The history books won’t show that this was a below-par performance by the Blues, nor that they edged it through a defender’s goal and a brilliant late save by their goalkeeper.

But they might, just might, record it as one of those moments when the balance of the title race swung towards the Blues.

It is often the way. It is not the free-scoring, sweet-flowing football of August which wins the big honours, but the hard graft and scrappy tap-ins of February.

So it was here as manager Roberto Mancini introduced a note of caution to a team with one win in its last six away games by plonking Nigel de Jong in front of the back four and leaving Sergio Aguero to patrol alone up front.

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - player ratings

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - picture gallery

The Blues still bossed, with Gareth Barry dominant in midfield, and David Silva always driving them forward.

The amount of possession City had in the first half was an embarrassment for the home team at times, but it was also a source of frustration for the Blues.

The statistics show that City have been creating a similar number of chances in recent games as they were earlier in the season, when they were blitzing sides.

But stats can lie, and the fact is that for all their possession, for all the times that they had the ball in and around the Villa box in the opening 45 minutes, Shay Given did not have a serious save to make.

The numbers of chances being created may be the same, but the quality of those chances is not as good, as well as the finishing being off-key.

Aguero perfectly illustrated that. On his debut, he had a chance and what barely amounted to half a chance, and came away with two goals.

Then he bagged a hat-trick from a handful of chances against Wigan.

In the last two or three matches, the level of his play has risen again, so he looks like a constant menace – quick, agile and able to ease past big defenders like James Collins and Richard Dunne. But when he pulled the trigger, he got it all wrong.

Playing a lone role up front, the goalscoring burden was on his shoulders more than ever.

Villa were there for the taking. They had players out of position in key areas – even Emile Heskey, the oldest winger in town.

The irony in the first half was that with Edin Dzeko sitting on the bench, the Blues finally started getting to the by-line and putting dangerous aerial crosses, of the type that the big Bosnian striker used to gobble up at Wolfsburg.

Here we had Aguero getting on the end of passes, and blazing high, wide or straight at the thankful Given.

In City’s first real attack, a nervy Villa defence failed to clear and the little Argentine pounced, only to fire tamely into the former City keeper’s midriff.

With Adam Johnson providing plenty of width, Villa were constantly stretched, but when the winger fed Silva, the little magician danced past Stilyan Petrov but, like Aguero, also shot too close to the keeper.

Gareth Barry was in the mood against his former club, driving City forward from midfield, but he, too, suffered from the shooting malaise.

A sweeping Blue move ended with James Milner teeing up Barry, but he went for precision and side-footed his shot at a pace which made it easy for Given to collect.

Johnson went closest, getting the ball from Joleon Lescott as the big man retrieved an over-hit corner, and crashing a shot against the post.

Even when the Blues won a free-kick within range, Aleks Kolarov could only float it, rather than whip it, and the ball sailed harmlessly over the bar.

And yet Aguero was sprinting in, round and past Collins and Dunne almost at will.

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - player ratings

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - picture gallery

Collecting the ball tight to the touchline, he had Collins back-pedalling again, flashed past him but then skied his shot .

Villa’s threat had been virtually non-existent, but the longer such City sloppiness persisted, the more encouraged they would become.

The Blues needed a big start to the second half and the skipper very nearly provided it, getting his head to Milner’s corner, but Collins was in the way and blocked.

Then the other central defender, Lescott, got his head to Silva’s free kick but got it all wrong to send the ball out of the danger area.

Villa, without a home win in six games, were getting a sniff of something to cling to, and maybe even to build on, and the Blues needed to quickly snuff out that growing optimism.

A touch of Latino magic almost did it as Silva and Aguero conjured an opening on the right and Pablo Zabaleta’s rising dive forced Given to parry and grab at the second attempt. Next Kolarov smashed in an angled cross, and both Silva and Aguero were a foot away from getting a decisive touch.

The tension was building, but so was the City pressure. Villa cracked on 63 minutes, and this time Lescott got it right.

Milner’s corner from the left was headed back into the box by Barry, and the defender hooked it, Gerd Muller-like, past Given.

With the pressure lifted, City almost got a quick second as Johnson’s cross found Silva, but his deft touch did not fool the solid Given.

The Blues were also denied a penalty when Kolarov’s cross struck Alan Hutton’s hand, his arm away from his body.

With the goal in the bag, City were content to sit back, a position from which they are never their best, and it was a nervous final 20 minutes for the travelling fans, especially when Cuellar powered a free header over the bar.

Then as Villa pushed hard, Hart showed why he is such an important figure, coming up with a magnificent reflex save to keep out Darren Bent’s hooked shot.

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - player ratings

Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 - picture gallery