Manchester City won the English Premier League title for the fourth time in the last five years after another sensational comeback win on the final day of the season. Just a few days back, City celebrated their 10th anniversary of that iconic Sergio Aguero goal which made them champions in 2012.
No one could have imagined that something similar is about to happen again in a few days’ time. Manchester City needed a win against Aston Villa to seal the title something they did in the most dramatic way. Liverpool fans were hoping for Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa to do them the favor this time, a point for them would have been enough.
They were almost there until 15 minutes to play with goals from Matty Cash and former-Red Phillipe Coutinho. Until the 75th-minute Pep Guardiola’s side was below their standards in their passing, shooting and in defence. 3 goals in space of 6 minutes for City changed the scenario completely as Etihad started rocking to celebrate.
The Moment that Changed The Entire Title Race For Manchester City On The Final Day Of The Season
Here we will talk about a player who is consistently linked for a move away from Etihad. He did the most remarkable job for his team to win the title coming off the bench, i.e. Ilkay Gundogan. The German midfielder came off the bench in the second half before Guardiola shuffled his backline a bit bringing on Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, switching Cancelo to right-back and Stones to centre-half which should have been the obvious starting line-up.
However, Guardiola’s substitutes were absolutely spot on. In the 76th minute, Manchester City fans found some hope when Gundogan scored with a powerful downward header.
Then little more than two minutes later, Zinchenko – another City sub who’d had a serious impact – darted down the left and cut back for Rodri who side-footed with power from the edge of the area into the corner of the net to equalise. A draw was not going to be enough and City knew it very well. Gundogan was at the right place at the right time again as he just toe-poked the De Bruyne pass to seal it.
Guardiola recently slammed all the transfer speculations regarding his German midfielder saying he will be staying. Pep now has four EPL trophies as the Manchester City boss, one more than his former rival Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, who both have 3 with Chelsea and Arsenal respectively.