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Winning the FA Cup this season would mean a lot to Pep Guardiola.

He mentioned after the last round that it is now seven semi-finals in a row and those have come at times when they have been playing in the latter stages of the Champions league and fighting for league titles as well.

He stressed the importance of winning four Carabao Cups in a row too. The cup competitions have always mattered to him.

It would be huge if City get to the final and win it, not least because last time they lost a derby to Manchester United with a relatively poor performance.

It would be huge for them to get the chance to redeem themselves, but also to finish a difficult season well. We saw how important that is in the scenes after Tuesday's win over Aston Villa.

Obviously, relatively speaking, big games for City in years gone have been in terms of winning the title.

It is a different end goal, but the outcome is still celebrated. If they had scored that goal in the last minute to climb to first place, the celebrations would have been the same.

City are used to playing in these big games and the cup competitions come alongside that. You just want to finish the season well. Whatever has come before that, a good end to a season leaves you feeling really positive for the next one.

These are different types of big games for City - but they are still big games. They still want to achieve their objectives - it is just that the objectives are slightly different.

The Villa win is a real momentum-builder and they have all celebrated together.

Guardiola has spent a lot of this season making the point about how good this team has been in years gone by - like reaching seven FA Cup semi-finals in a row.

Many teams have not reached seven in their whole history so he has been more defiant in how he speaks about his team.

He wants to make sure that people understand where he is coming from, where the club is coming from, how good they have been in years gone by, and how he still believes in the team.

Many believe this era at City is coming to an end, but the manager believes in his team and, as a consequence, I think he is finding it easy to make sure the players believe in themselves as well.

What would mean more to you - winning the FA Cup and the glory of lifting a trophy, or qualifying for the Champions League?

Let us know here

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward

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Michael Brown believes that winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League would still represent a successful season for Manchester City.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, the former City midfielder said: "If you end on that trophy in the FA Cup final, then yes [it's a successful season]. I am there at the weekend. It's going to be another difficult game.

"To finish third would be a positive and then it is going to be all eyes on what happens next for City. How can they be more consistent?

"There is talk about how they evolve the squad and then obviously there is the Club World Cup as well. So it's an interesting summer coming up."

Brown highlighted Pep Guardiola's celebrations after the late winner against Aston Villa as evidence of how much the result meant to the City boss.

"He was aggressive in his celebration because he knew it was tight," Brown said. "He knew he had been put under a lot of pressure.

"It was about just having patience. I was wondering was he thinking 'you know what, I will take a draw here'? He doesn't want to get beaten. I think that was in his mind - not to open up too early.

"But what an ending. Jeremy Doku finally produced a little bit of magic and of all people, Matheus Nunes gets the winner."

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We asked for your thoughts after Manchester City's late victory over Aston Villa on Tuesday.

Here are some of your comments:

Brian: The boys are back in town! Belief not grief in every section of the pitch. City were on fire against an excellent Villa side. A harsh penalty decision in the first half was the only blemish on the night. The fight for that Champions League qualification spot is truly on and this performance has boosted City's chances. This was vintage City from the new kids in town.

Peter: So, so pleased for Matheus Nunes, he's no full-back, but has played where his manager has asked him too and done an excellent job. Great win, fantastic three points.

David: A well deserved win in a tough and hard game. I still feel that Kevin de Bruyne should be offered a further contract - he is still a marvel.

• Not a Man City fan? Find and follow your team here

Brodie: Solid on the day and got the job done, but had the Villa team of late shown up it could have been a different story. Harsh decision with the penalty but otherwise our defence is improving week in week out. Would like to see Jeremy Doku start more or come on earlier in games as he always seems to have an impact.

Andrew: On another day, Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee between them create or score a couple of goals and that game becomes straightforward. We need a set-piece coach like Arsenal to turn corners into goals as we have plenty of height when squad fully fit. We need to strengthen the whole right side from base to top, especially with De Bruyne leaving. We have a boatload of talent on the left.

Alan: Relieved in the end. Horrendous time-wasting by Villa. Pep got away with one today. Slow team and just one sub before the 94th minute. But a win is a win.

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Matheus Nunes has described qualifying for the Champions League as the 'main focus' for the club.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester after his late winner against Aston Villa, he said: "This season has had its ups and downs. There were moments where I thought the mentality was back, and then we'd lose a game and it would seem like we didn't have our confidence back.

"In this particular end of the season we are looking sharp in every game, hopefully it carries on.

"Against Aston Villa it was a very emotional game. We wanted the three points so badly. Every game now is so important.

"We want to win the FA Cup semi-final. But I think our main goal now is to qualify for the Champions League. We aren't looking at the FA Cup like it is a secondary thing, but our main focus is to win the final four games and qualify for the Champions League."

Listen to the full interview

Wednesday's back pages are emblazoned with pictures of Matheus Nunes and his manager Pep Guardiola celebrating the Portugal international's last-gasp winner against Aston Villa.

The Daily Mail and The Star focus on Guardiola's outpouring of emotion after a vital goal in the race for Champions League qualification.

Meanwhile, The Guardian and the I newspaper show Nunes' own passionate celebrations after scoring his first Premier League goal for City. They focus on what the result means for both sides' run-ins as they prepare for FA Cup semi-finals this weekend.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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When you are as expressive on the touchline as Pep Guardiola, visual evidence can be enough to gauge the importance of an occasion.

Make no mistake, this win was big.

"You don't have to be a scientist to realise that we were playing against Aston Villa, one of the best teams, as you saw against Newcastle and PSG," said Guardiola. "They are an extraordinary team but we performed as we did in the past with the commitment.

"Qualification for the Champions League is important, of course, but sometimes we have to be calm. We must focus on the semi-final and after, we have days to prepare for the four 'finals'. Two at home, two away."

This starts with Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

In Guardiola's mind, it is all so clear. It is why detached observers are led to the conclusion City's football is regimented.

Yet the reality is Guardiola is making subtle tweaks as the season goes on.

He accepts what he has now is not what even he expected when the campaign began, when Rodri and Erling Haaland were available.

No-one would have predicted Saturday's hero at Everton would be 20-year-old Nico O'Reilly, making his fourth league start. Against Villa it would be Matheus Nunes.

It's another puzzle solved for Guardiola. Another solution found.

It will be fascinating now to see if City can keep alive their hopes of domestic silverware alive.

They have failed to win at least one trophy only three times since they won the FA Cup in 2011 to end their long wait for success.

Since Guardiola's first season in 2016-17, City have always won at least one of the three domestic competitions on offer.

Read the full analysis here

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Man City boss Pep Guardiola, speaking to Sky Sports after Tuesday's 2-1 win over Aston Villa: "I'm really happy. We're in the last four in the last five games and beat a Champions League contender for qualification.

"Aston Villa is a team to the last man, one of the top teams in Europe. We played really good. We were aggressive in our duels - the back four was unbelievable.

"Football is emotion. For the fans, players, we have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League.

"The players behave unbelievably - we are so pleased.

"The season has been bad. It happens. Sometimes you have bad seasons. The level of the teams [in the Premier League] is outstanding."

On Matheus Nunes' late winner: "The action from Jeremy Doku - he can create something with his pace. He had right players in the box."

Did you know?

• City scored their latest match-winning Premier League goal at Etihad Stadium (93:21) since November 2022 against Fulham (94:34).

• Matheus Nunes scored only his second goal in his 76 Premier League appearances, after April 2023 for Wolves against Chelsea.

• Kevin de Bruyne created six chances in this match, with no other player creating more than two. It was the 60th time he has created 5 or more chances in a single Premier League game - the most times on Opta's records (from 2003-04).

• City have conceded 22 goals at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League this season - only in 2003-04, their first season at the ground, have they conceded more goals in a campaign (24).

Manchester City are eyeing Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa as a replacement for Brazil goalkeeper Ederson, 31, who is in talks with clubs in Saudi Arabia. (Florian Plettenberg, external)

Along with Liverpool and Arsenal, City are eyeing Bayer Leverkusen's 21-year-old Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who is valued at about £103m. (CaughtOffside, external)

On the flipside, Leverkusen have held talks with City over a deal for 22-year-old English forward James McAtee. (Florian Plettenberg, external)

Finally, City and Arsenal are set to be beaten by Aston Villa to the signing of Rosenborg's 18-year-old Norway Under-21s midfielder Sverre Nypan. (Times - subscription required, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

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Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Man City's performance

What did you make of Aston Villa's display?

Come back to this page on Wednesday to find a selection of your replies.

Freddie Pye
Fan writer

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When the ongoing campaign got going last August, Nico O'Reilly was a name already on the lips of many Manchester City supporters. At just 19-years-old, the latest wonderkid to come off the production line of football's next big names was being tipped as a Rodri back-up.

Pre-season saw O'Reilly operating in a double-pivot alongside a whole host of team-mates but largely Mateo Kovacic, with the ultimate reward for his encouraging showings and a desire to learn being a start in the FA Community Shield win over Manchester United.

Fast forward nine months and we're seeing that same Manchester lad viewed predominantly as a left-back. Should we be surprised? Usually, yes. But after all, this is Pep Guardiola - a man who far too often is so far ahead of us mere mortals in a football intelligence sense - and even the wildest of positional alterations for O'Reilly such as a left-back switch should not have been ruled out.

But take a step back and it all makes too much sense; technically gifted, an outstanding eye for a forward pass, power in driving forward with the ball, physically domineering for defensive and offensive set-pieces, positional intelligence, the know-how as to when to charge forward into spaces created by attacking team-mates, and, perhaps crucially, a willingness to learn and a passion to succeed.

Perhaps the only downside to this O'Reilly surge to the fore is that there are only a handful of games remaining this season, with a summer of major transition expected in Manchester City's first-team squad.

The likes of Juventus' Andrea Cambiaso and Tottenham's Destiny Udogie have already been linked with Manchester City transfer interest, both of whom are excellent operators in the left-back role. And with midfield expected to be addressed too, could we really see O'Reilly fall back down to his role of a developmental talent for the future?

There is a clear case all of sudden for City to switch attentions elsewhere, perhaps investing in the right-back berth instead, and allow for one of their own to flourish under Pep Guardiola and become the ultimate versatile choice for the Catalan in defence, midfield, and attack.

With Rico Lewis, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Josko Gvardiol, James McAtee, Oscar Bobb and Savinho added to experienced yet youthful stars such as Phil Foden, Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Nico Gonzalez, the introduction of O'Reilly to this list further emphasises the mere fact that Manchester City's era of domination may not be ending any time soon!

Find more from Freddie Pye at City Xtra, external

The race for the top five is ferocious and after seeing how Manchester City played against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, I just think Aston Villa will be too dynamic for them.

It depends on what team City boss Pep Guardiola picks, of course, but although they eventually beat Everton, they were very flat for most of the game.

I really don't understand why Pep keeps playing Bernardo Silva wide on the right, for example, and it would make much more sense if he used Jeremy Doku, along with Savinho, as his two wide men.

City's physicality in midfield has been an issue for them all season and I don't think Nico Gonzalez has made much difference there. He doesn't have anything like the same presence as Rodri, or Declan Rice at Arsenal, for example.

So, City could have problems coping with Villa, who cut straight through them at times when they beat them at Villa Park in December.

I thought Villa might be tired after their Champions League tie with Paris St-Germain last week, because they put so much into it, but they certainly didn't lack any intensity in their brilliant win over Newcastle and we know how much energy they have got in their midfield.

Villa have lost their past 14 visits to Etihad Stadium in the league, but that run will end on Tuesday.

City will be far more dangerous if Doku and Savinho both play to give them the legs they have been lacking, but it looks like Guardiola is sticking with the old guard so I am going for a Villa victory this time.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Make your own prediction here, external

Manchester City are interested in 25-year-old Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who has a release clause worth £64.3m (75m euros). (Correio da Manha - in Portuguese), external

Nico O'Reilly will sign a new contract with City after Chelsea showed an interest in the midfielder. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Midfielder Bernardo Silva is set to be the subject of interest from Barcelona once again this summer. (GiveMeSport), external

Manchester City and Tottenham are set to battle it out for 24-year-old Lazio centre-back Mario Gila, but the Premier League duo will face competition from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich for the Spaniard. (Caught Offside), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Manchester-born Nico O'Reilly has seized his chance this season given the injury absences of Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and John Stones.

He has been deployed as an inverted left-back, often drifting into midfield, and his forward runs have contributed to Manchester City's attacking threat.

Pep Guardiola's experiment has been working, but he still considers the 20-year-old to be an attacking midfielder despite his strong performances at full-back.

"The impact has been good," said Guardiola. "We now have one game a week, so Nico has to recover and he has to see if he can play every three day like Bernardo [Silva] has proven, or Kevin [de Bruyne] and Ruben [Dias] have proven.

"I don't know if these young players are able to play three games a week during a month. But it's a reality already.

"I admire a lot that he is playing in a position he has never played before. He is learning. Of course, he has to improve, but with the ball it's good."

O'Reilly scored City's crucial first goal against Everton on Saturday and Guardiola praised the 20 year old for his impact.

"His position is - I'm pretty sure - attacking midfielder and every cross he is on the penalty spot," Guardiola said. "That's what I like as an attacking midfielder.

"I'm pretty sure [he is a midfielder], otherwise he doesn't score the goals like he has scored so far. He likes to be there, he has a good shot and quality in small spaces and it's helping us."

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Manchester City have won their past 14 Premier League home games against Aston Villa, scoring at least twice in each of the past 13. Their most recent defeat was in April 2007.

Across those 14 consecutive victories, City have trailed in just two games, going 1-0 down in May 2010 and 2-0 down in May 2022 before winning 3-1 and 3-2 respectively.

In Premier League history, only City themselves against Newcastle (an ongoing run of 16) have won more consecutive home games against an opponent.

But Villa have won two of their past three league games against City, as many as in their previous 23, and they are looking to complete their first league double over City since 1962-63.