After the restart, there were only five minutes left in the regular time of the first half.
After taking the lead, Manchester City did not choose to retreat and defend.
After all, City is currently the strongest team in England.
If they only lead a Championship side by one goal, it still wouldn't satisfy the fans.
Therefore, in these final five minutes, Manchester City's players continued to apply a suffocating high press on the Aston Villa defensive line.
Soon, under the relentless hunting from the midfield trio of Gündoğan, Bernardo Silva, and Delph, Villa's midfield cracked.
When John McGinn tried to play a simple pass back to Jedinak, he undercooked it.
The pass lacked pace, allowing Gündoğan, who was lurking nearby, to pounce.
The German international stretched out his foot, successfully snatching the ball before Jedinak could react.
Although Manchester City's tactics are primarily possession-based, when they get a counter-attacking opportunity, they play with remarkable, ruthless directness.
After completing the interception, Gündoğan didn't hesitate for a moment.
He immediately threaded a through ball toward the Villa penalty area.
In the blink of an eye, the ball was at Raheem Sterling's feet.
In tonight's match, Sterling's form had been electric.
His dribbling on the wing consistently terrorized the Villa defense, and he had already found the back of the net.
"The ball is back with Sterling," Martin Tyler said. "Aston Villa's defenders are scrambling to get into position. Hutton and Theodore Bjorn are there to meet him."
To stop the winger's advance, Villa deployed two defenders to closely mark him, leaving him almost no room to maneuver.
Even so, Sterling didn't slow his forward momentum.
Receiving the ball in stride with his right foot, he took a quick touch and then decisively accelerated.
In an instant, Sterling's explosive power was on full display.
Alan Hutton simply couldn't keep up with that kind of pace. It took Sterling less than three seconds to burn past his marker by a full body length.
Just as Sterling dropped his shoulder to cut inside into the penalty area and look for a shooting angle, he suddenly felt as if he had run into a brick wall.
It was Theodore.
At the critical moment, the teenager stepped up.
The moment Sterling planted his foot to make his cut, Theodore delivered a powerful, perfectly timed shoulder charge.
He knew Sterling's speed all too well, if he allowed him to burst into the penalty area, the consequences would be fatal.
No matter what, he had to disrupt the play.
After taking the hit from the young Norwegian, Sterling instantly lost his balance and stumbled.
The loose ball was quickly scooped up by another covering Villa defender.
"That was close," Gary Neville noted, exhaling sharply. "Thanks to Theodore Bjorn there. His defense is really solid, and his physicality is surprisingly impressive for his age."
"Sterling ran into a steel wall," Tyler chuckled. "Theodore Bjorn is proving so crucial for Aston Villa tonight—not just as the offensive engine, but as a defensive iron gate when they need him most."
...
"Hold on, Villa! Don't let them get a third before the half."
"Theo tracking back like a veteran center-half. Love to see it."
"Sterling just bounced off the kid. Built different."
However, the fans watching knew that relying solely on one teenager's defensive interventions would not be enough to secure a result.
Aston Villa needed more players to step up and relieve the pressure.
In the 43rd minute, it was still Manchester City on the attack. Pep Guardiola's team had settled into their familiar, hypnotic rhythm.
The three midfielders—Delph, Gündoğan, and Bernardo Silva—continuously exchanged crisp, one-touch passes, making it look like a training ground game of keep-away.
Although Dean Smith had deployed five midfielders tonight, to be honest, those five were struggling to match City's trio in terms of pressing and ball retention.
With a sharp, disguised through pass from Gündoğan, City's attack once again penetrated the penalty area.
This time, it came straight through the center.
Gabriel Jesus had performed well tonight. Although he hadn't managed to score yet, his movement and positioning inside the box had been a constant headache for the Villa center-backs.
This time, Jesus chose to receive the ball just outside the penalty area.
He shielded the ball with his back against Tommy Elphick, successfully collecting Gündoğan's pass.
But the Brazilian striker didn't try to turn and shoot. Instead, he intelligently laid the ball back to the onrushing Bernardo Silva.
Jesus was merely a decoy, Bernardo Silva was the main threat!
Taking the ball in stride, Silva immediately unleashed a powerful, curling shot.
The ball flew through the Birmingham night, curving wickedly toward the Aston Villa goal.
But it struck the post with a sickening crack!
Once again, the woodwork at Villa Park had saved the home side.
Seeing this, Tyler couldn't help but laugh. "Well, as expected, the home team's goalpost is putting in a Man of the Match shift! It has already denied Manchester City two certain goals."
"It seems Lady Luck is wearing claret and blue tonight," Neville agreed. "There are only two minutes left until the end of the first half. Including stoppage time, it's probably around five minutes or so to survive. Aston Villa must hold on and avoid conceding now. If they can maintain this 2-1 scoreline until halftime, Dean Smith can regroup them, and they might still have a chance."
In the stands of Villa Park, over thirty thousand fans found their voice again, belting out "Hi Ho Aston Villa" to try and inject some energy into their exhausted players for the final push before the break.
On the pitch, Theodore kept clapping his hands, shouting encouragement to his teammates.
"Hey, lads! Let's hold on a little longer! Look for chances to counter. They're strong, but they leave gaps at the back! Show some determination! This is Villa Park, we owe these fans a performance!"
At 44 minutes and 30 seconds, the fourth official raised the board.
Three minutes of stoppage time.
At that exact moment, possession fell to Aston Villa—more precisely, to Theodore in the middle of the park.
Seeing their talisman on the ball, the Holte End raised the volume even higher.
Without a doubt, they were hoping he could orchestrate one last miracle before the whistle.
"Elphick passes the ball out to Theodore Bjorn in midfield," Tyler commentated, his voice tightening with anticipation.
"Aston Villa's forwards are making runs. Will the teenager find the pass?"
Only Fabian Delph was near Theodore, trying to interfere.
In tonight's match, Delph's main task was to shadow the young playmaker, but he hadn't managed to put much meaningful pressure on him.
This time was no different. When Delph squared up to him, Theodore didn't seem to feel any panic.
He calmly shielded the ball, inviting the physical confrontation.
His goal was clear: he wanted to use his superior strength to bully the England international off the ball.
And he succeeded.
Dropping his shoulder, Theodore used his leverage to forcefully push Delph away. Although he didn't put Delph flat on his back, the shove was enough to make the City midfielder stumble wildly off balance.
The teenager's physical conditioning was on full display.
The referee for this match was Anthony Taylor.
Having played under Taylor's officiating in previous Championship fixtures, Theodore had a good read on how the referee managed physical contact.
He knew very well that Taylor preferred to let the game flow and wouldn't blow for a soft shoulder-to-shoulder challenge.
He was right.
Anthony Taylor waved play on.
"Theodore Bjorn simply shrugs Delph off the ball!" Neville exclaimed. "His physicality is outstanding for a player of his age. He's built like a tank, Delph just bounced right off him."
On the Sky Sports feed, fans were buzzing over the passage of play.
[Well done, Theo!]
[Delph isn't exactly weak, but Theo just made him look like a training cone.]
[If Villa wants to get back into this, it has to come through him.]
[I thought he'd look for the quick pass, but he just ran straight through the tackle. Daring play.]
Having shaken off the interference, Theodore wasted no time.
Looking up, he immediately launched a raking long pass toward the City penalty area.
With no pressure on the ball, his delivery was pinpoint accurate. The ball, spinning rapidly, carved through the air, dropping right onto the penalty spot.
The 195cm-tall Tammy Abraham leaped high.
Although Nicolas Otamendi challenged him, Abraham had a significant height advantage over the Argentine defender and successfully won the initial header.
Putting all his neck muscles into it, Abraham smashed a powerful header down toward the goal.
On the goal line, Claudio Bravo once again displayed his terrifying reflexes, throwing out a strong left hand to parry the shot away.
But Aston Villa's second wave had arrived.
Jack Grealish, who had been lurking at the edge of the box, pounced on the loose ball.
Without any hesitation, the Villa captain drew his foot back to pull the trigger.
But just as Grealish began his shooting motion, Otamendi, scrambling to recover, grabbed a handful of Grealish's shirt and dragged him down from behind.
It was a clumsy desperate challenge.
BEEP!
Referee Anthony Taylor didn't hesitate for a second.
He blew his whistle forcefully, pointing straight to the penalty spot before marching over to show the Argentine defender a yellow card.
Aston Villa had been awarded a penalty.
A lifeline in the 47th minute of the first half!