Premier League: Five games that won Manchester City the title

Manchester City retained its Premier League title and we take a look at five games that helped Pep Guardiola's men edge Liverpool out by a solitary point.

Published : May 12, 2019 22:33 IST , Brighton

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is the first team in a decade to retain its Premier League title
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is the first team in a decade to retain its Premier League title
lightbox-info

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is the first team in a decade to retain its Premier League title

Manchester City held off a record-breaking challenge from Liverpool to become the first side in a decade to retain the Premier League title with a 4-1 victory over Brighton on Sunday.

We look at five games that helped Pep Guardiola's men edge Liverpool out by a solitary point.

Manchester City 2 Liverpool 1

A shock run of three defeats in four Premier League games in December saw City fall seven points behind Liverpool ahead of its New Year showdown at the Etihad.

Guardiola conceded the title would be over if his side lost and the game was delicately poised after Roberto Firmino cancelled out Sergio Aguero's opener.

Leroy Sane had surprisingly found himself sidelined for much of the campaign, but the German arguably scored the biggest goal of City's season to inflict Liverpool's only defeat in the league 18 minutes from time.

Manchester City 6 Chelsea 0

City's fourth and final defeat of the season at Newcastle handed Liverpool the chance to reopen a seven-point lead, but instead it stumbled in draws with Leicester and West Ham.

The defending champion pounced with three victories in a week to go back on top, the pick of which inflicted Chelsea's worst-ever Premier League defeat.

Aguero scored a hat-trick, Raheem Sterling twice and Ilkay Gundogan was also on target in City's most complete performance of the campaign.

Manchester City 1 Tottenham 0

Despite its domestic dominance, Champions League glory still eludes City after exiting in dramatic fashion on away goals to Tottenham.

City was denied a last-gasp winning goal in its quarterfinal tie by a VAR review, but raised itself to exact a measure of revenge three days later.

Phil Foden's early header was the only goal, but City had to rely on goalkeeper Ederson to make a string of saves to prevent Spurs a potentially calamitous result.

Manchester United 0 Manchester City 2

A Manchester derby was seen as the last major hurdle for City to clear four games from the finishing line.

However, unlike when Liverpool was held 0-0 at Old Trafford in late February, when United was on a high in the early stages of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign, City travelled across Manchester at the right time.

United succumbed to a seventh defeat in nine games as Bernardo Silva and Sane struck in 12 second-half minutes to paint the city blue.

Manchester City 1 Leicester 0

City ended the season on a run of 14 straight Premier League wins that became progressively more nervy as the finish line approached.

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers threatened to do his old side a huge favour in the penultimate game of the season as his Leicester side frustrated City and had its chances to inflict a knockout blow at the Etihad.

However, captain Vincent Kompany stepped up 20 minutes from time to win the game in the most unlikely of circumstances by smashing the ball into the top corner for his first goal from outside the box in 12 years.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment