Unai Emery admitted he wouldn’t have been satisfied with a point, even if Aston Villa had managed to hold on for a draw against Manchester City. His side conceded in the 94th minute to lose 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, as Matheus Nunes boosted City's hopes of securing a top five finish. City are now four points ahead of Villa, with a superior goal difference and only four matches remaining. Meanwhile, Newcastle United, Chelsea, and Nottingham Forest all have a game in hand on Villa. "We have to accept this defeat,” Emery said after the defeat. “We played a very competitive match for 90 minutes. Sometimes we were defending compact. Sometimes it was a medium or low block. “We knew before the match what difficulty we would face. I think the players responded fantastic. We created good chances on transition. In the second half they started pushing and getting corners, but we defended well. “We got a very good opportunity through Marcus Rashford. When the draw was going to be a good point for us, I pushed the players to get one opportunity to win the match. “The substitute players got a good impact, but they did the same and they scored. We had some corners and opportunities to get into their box, but it was not enough. “Now, our mind changes so quickly. We are separating this competition until next Saturday against Fulham. We now focus on Crystal Palace in the FA Cup . Overall, I am proud of what we are doing. "It is a key moment in the Premier League. My idea against Manchester City was to compete and win, getting close to the level we are achieving.” He added: “We conceded late against PSG because they have huge quality. Today is the same. I am happy, overall very proud of what we are doing, accepting this defeat. “We played the match I expected in my mind before. In the last 15 minutes we tried to win the match. In case we got one point, it would not have been enough.” Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here , while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here .