Premier League at its best. Till the 75th minute, nobody knew who is going to win. Liverpool was on par with Wolves at Anfield; at Etihad, things got messed up.
Astonishingly, Villa were leading 2-0 against City. The Etihad was stunned and Anfield was in prayers. The prayers worked well. Salah and Robertson scored in the 84th and 89th minutes to win the game for Liverpool.
But that did not fulfil their wishes. In an extraordinary turn of events, City scored twice in 5 minutes to win the league, their 4th in 5 years. Guardiola could not fashion how to react, City fans and players were in ecstasy worth watching.
The Premier League remained where it was last season, where it was before the game.
Once again the final matchday of the Premier League brought glory for Manchester City and agony for Liverpool.
In the last 11 years, the last day decided the title 4 times, all 4 for City. 3 of them were against Liverpool.
The first of these 4 was back in 2012. Both the Manchester clubs were at 89 points with City being ahead of goal difference.
A season where City took the lead of 7 points midway through the season and United not only overcame but also took 8 points lead, only to lose the advantage and the league as well to the classic ‘Agueroooooooooo.’
The next such event came in 2014. Arsenal were on top for 4 months, Chelsea for almost 3 months and Liverpool for 1 month. City kept battling nonetheless and an infamous Steven Gerrard slip gave City the room to stay at the top for only a couple of weeks.
That was enough for them. Liverpool went on to bottle a 3 goal lead against Crystal Palace and City aptly took the chance to lift their 3rd Premier League title.
It happened again in 2019. This was probably the fiercest battle in Premier League where 97 points were not enough for Liverpool to win the league. Because the polished City side of Guardiola managed to gather 99 points.
Manchester City showed extraordinary game management skills that season. They won games number 34 to 37 by 1-0 each. In the end, they beat Brighton 4-0 on the final day to secure their 5th trophy.
A similar script has been repeated this year again with the same opponents and the same end result.
Guardiola’s Manchester City were praised for many things, for beautiful gameplay, tactical superiority, excellent sporting project, etc. What we constantly missed to mention is their grit, resilience and persistence.
This Manchester City side has built a monstrous mentality to fight till the last moment, to keep the mojo and momentum and not lose their head till the very last minute. The result is in front of everyone.
If 6 Premier League titles in 11 years sound crazy, 4 in 5 years sound madness. The way they have improved in every aspect as a club, in less than two decades, is hugely praiseworthy.
