Aston Villa boss Dean Smith not drawn on controversial Manchester City Wembley winner

Rodri headed home what proved to be the winner from Ilkay Gundogan’s 30th minute corner at Wembley, despite replays confirming Villa should have been awarded a goal kick, with the ball having hit Gundogan last before going out of play.

Under current legislation VAR is not able to rule on free-kick or corner decisions, leaving the technology redundant in what proved to be the pivotal moment of the final.

But Smith, who has been left fuming by VAR on more than one occasion this season, later admitted his team should have defended the set piece better.

He said: "There's nothing I could do about that (the corner decision).

“It was a goal kick but we've got to defend the corner better. That's the be all and end all, really."

Rodri’s goal put City 2-0 up and for a time Villa, who were hammered 6-1 by Pep Guardiola’s team less than two months previously, looked like being on the end of another heavy defeat.

But Mbwana Samatta’s 41st minute header got them back into the game and they came close to forcing extra time when Bjorn Engels saw a late header saved.

"I was really pleased with the reaction,” said Smith. “I was never concerned that that game was going to run away from us.

“I could tell from the players' body language from the pitch and their eyes when they went out there that they were ready for this game.

“We threw caution to the wind at the end. There's five minutes to go and put Bjorn Engels up front and Orjan Nyland went up for a corner as well.

“I actually thought Bjorn’s header was in from where I was. It was a great save at the time.

“I'll be honest, we're playing against a top team and we had to defend stoutly at times and get some blocks in and defend well.

“You're going to have to do that against Manchester City and Watford found out in a cup final here.

“There was never a sense of a backwards step from my players today and that's what pleased me more than anything."