The Spaniard struck first for Manchester City after 11 minutes when he poked home Jeremy Doku‘s cross at the near post after a perfectly timed run.
Villa threatened on the break and drew level nearly 10 minutes later, when Jhon Duran beat Stefan Ortega with a neat finish after a give and go with Morgan Rogers.
Academy starlet, Phil Foden, restored City’s lead with a low 20-yard free-kick before half-time.
He cemented our lead further in the second-half by firing low past Robin Olsen after good work by Rodri, then claimed his hat-trick with a fine drive into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Talking to TNT Sports after the game, Rodrigo believed it was the perfect way to bounce back from the weekend’s stalemate against Arsenal.
“Frustration [about Arsenal draw] is what it is,” he began.
“We conceded a goal but we keep the faith and in terms of our general play it was one of our best of the season.
“We knew that we have to have players in the box, we have to arrive in the box to score goals and that was the message at the start of the game.
“I want to help the team, it’s not my role to score goals but I want to score more and it’s something I’ve been working on. Looking at myself after the games and if you want to improve you can do it.”
Phil Foden scored his 21st goal of the season and his third hat-trick in a City shirt.
“With this player he grows every single year,” Rodrigo expressed.
“He can score whatever he wants, arriving in the box, he has a special quality, three today and so happy for him.”
The result saw us see off Unai Emery’s Champions League chasing Aston Villa side, who were the last team to beat us back in December, and Rodrigo highlighted the significance of the victory.
“Something we’ve been struggling with this season to face the teams at the top - beating Aston Villa 4-1 is not easy but we did it.
“We’re there, we knew we had to do our homework. We did it and now we focus on the next game.”
