John McGinn has joked Aston Villa will have ‘Manchester City tops on tomorrow’ after the club edged closer to Champions League qualification.
Villa fought back from 3-1 down to earn a draw with Liverpool at Villa Park on Monday night, as Jhon Duran came off the bench to score twice late on in a stirring fightback.
A win would have confirmed Villa’s place in the top four and Champions League football for the first time, but Unai Emery’s team got off to a nightmare start as Emi Martinez’s awful own goal handed Liverpool the lead inside two minutes.
Youri Tielemans drilled the home side level on 12 minutes, though the parity failed to last long as Cody Gakpo restored the visitor’s advantage from close range.
Jarrell Quansah’s terrific header handed Liverpool a two-goal cushion and the Reds were on course for three points with a 3-1 lead heading into the final five minutes. However, Duran’s fierce hit pulled one back, before the Colombian fortuitously diverted in a third to equalise moments later.
Villa now have a five-point advantage over Tottenham, who have two games to play, and will secure Champions League qualification if Spurs fail to beat Manchester City tomorrow night.
McGinn said his side will be keeping a close eye on that game and lending their support to the Citizens.
“It’s a brilliant effort towards the end. We got a bit of luck,” the Scotland midfielder said to Sky Sports.
“It’s been a tough few weeks with lads coming back and playing through the pain barrier. This place got us going.
“Big Jhon [Duran] is a bit nuts at times, he’s a nightmare to play against. I don’t think it’s been difficult for us as players.
“There’s some of us that have never been close to the Champions League in our life. The manager has a no-excuse mentality. People have written us off and we’ve floated under the radar. We’ll have our Man City tops on tomorrow.”
Goalscorer Tielemans said he felt Villa deserved a result from the game and thanked the home crowd for their support at Villa Park.
“We created chances but we didn’t score. We got the draw and fought right until the end and that’s the most importnat thing. Unfortunately we couldn’t score more, we felt like we deserved more in the first half. It’s unlucky but we’ll take the draw.
“We’re in that fourth position and we want to keep it. We just want to thank the fans, you can feel the atmosphere at the club. The fans have been amazing all season and it’s no surprise we have an amazing home record this season.”
