A super long-range pass from Idrissa Gana puts Carles Gil through on the CIty goal, but a combination of Aleksandar Kolarov and Fernandinho sees the door closed on the Spaniard.

Almost.

City have to go all the way back to goalkeeper Joe Hart before restarting a move. That just shows the excellent job Villa are doing so far. The visitors haven't really had too much of a sniff at goal and the full-backs Jordan Amavi and Alan Hutton have been positioned well when the ball has been in their vicinity.

Poor old Wilfried Bony has had an afternoon to forget - only Joe Hart has a worse pass completion average than the Ivorian striker (71.4%).

Strong defending from Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark who nudges Raheem Sterling in the box after Kevin De Bruyne tried a through ball. The England international looks around to see if the referee is giving a decision his way.

"Nah, mate. Get up and get on with it," is the response.

Exeter City have already made it past non-league Didcot Town today and eight more FA Cup first-round ties are about to kick off.

Follow them all here with our dedicated live text commentary and Final Score, where you watch all of the goals as they go in.

A bit harsh - but it made us laugh...

Aleksandar Kolarov's free-kick is towards captain Vincent Kompany, who juggles the ball but can't keep it for too long and it dribbles out of play.

That one won't make the highlights reel tonight.

Image source, AFP/GETTY

Fred Eyre
Former Man City player on BBC Radio Manchester

"No matter how thick the squad is, Man City might not have a choice but to play Kelechi Iheanacho  up front in the future. Kevin De Bruyne can play there, or Raheem Sterling. But in terms of someone who can play number nine, City only have the injured pair of Sergio Aguero and Wilfried Bony."

Remi Garde is still stood by the dugout, he's not sat down for the opening 25 minutes, keeping a close eye on his troops.

On the pitch, Alan Hutton brings down Kevin De Bruyne and Aleksandar Kolarov is over the free-kick...

Image source, PA

Wilfried Bony succumbs to injury so Manuel Pellegrini has to make an early enforced change.

Jesus Navas comes on. It will mean a reshuffle to the side, with Kevin De Bruyne moving up front.

Image source, AFP/GETTY

City striker Wilfried Bony is off the pitch, it looks like a hamstring injury. He can't continue.

Villa push forward looking to take advantage of the 10 men...

Raheem Sterling (number seven) is operating far further forward than Kevin de Bruyne (number 17) so far - this graphic below shows the passes each player has made. The greens one found their target. The red ones? Let's not talk about those.

Image source, Opta

Better handling from Brad Guzan, plucks a Raheem Sterling cross into the box without fumbling.

The will give some confidence to his team-mates.

Agree with Brian Little, to an extent. It is encouraging but away from their own penalty area. If Villa have any real defending to do, you feel they will crumble. City, themselves, have to stay patient and wait for their opportunities to open up. One may bring two, three, four.

Image source, Getty Images

Brian Little
ex-Aston Villa player & manager on BBC WM 95.6

“You have to be realistic, you can’t expect the manager to come in and expect Villa to play Man City off the park, but the signs so far are encouraging.”     

Again Yaya Toure spreads the play, this time towards Raheem Sterling on the left. He puts Aleksandar Kolarov in whose shot hits the post via Brad Guzan's hand. Hardly convincing goalkeeping from the American.

The home side fail to clear the resulting corner, but City midfielder Fernando does the job for them, smashing the ball over the crossbar from close range.

Fred Eyre
Former Man City player on BBC Radio Manchester

"Villa have shown intent, and when you're having the season Villa have, the crowd appreciate that. As long as they see some effort they will cut you some slack."

Image source, AFP/GETTY

Patient stuff from Villa. They make it all the way to the edge of the City penalty area and instead of attempting an aimless shot, they decide to bring the ball back all the way to midfield and try again.

A great spell of pressure from the home side which ends with Idrissa Gana surging forward before striking over the bar.

Positive stuff.