POGBA’S REVENGE
£89m star hits back at Guardiola with two goals in amazing United comeback that wrecks City’s dreams of derby title triumph
PAUL POGBA wrecked Manchester City’s title party last night with two goals in 97 stunning secondhalf seconds as United produced one of the great Premier league comebacks at The Etihad.
Pep Guardiola had been on the verge of his first title in England when his side led 2-0 at half-time — but he hadn’t counted on Pogba finally coming of age.
The much-maligned Frenchman struck twice before Chris Smalling completed a thrilling turnaround.
It was a sickening blow for City days before they face the challenge of trying to overhaul Liverpool in the Champions League but there was redemption for Pogba at the end of another difficult week for the midfielder.
‘I didn’t want to lose against City last year, I still had that in my mind,’ said Pogba. ‘If they win they are champions against United, the fans would be dead.
‘You can play and lose against
them if they are already champions but for them to win it against us and to see them celebrate in their stadium, I couldn’t let that happen.
‘We said we had nothing to lose at half-time and you could see what we can do. The question is why don’t we do it more.’
Pogba had dominated the build-up to the match after Guardiola had claimed the United player had been offered to City in the January transfer window by the player’s agent – and the controversial United star turned up at the Etihad with his hair dyed blue-and-white, City colours.
TV pundit Gary Neville described the player as ‘ridiculous’, though Jose Mourinho had nothing but praise for the inconsistent playmaker and quipped that his dramatic double strike had put a few more quid on his price tag.
‘If it’s true his agent offered him to some players then the price has now gone up,’ said Mourinho.
City were kicking themselves at not wrapping up the title against their bitter rivals. Raheem Sterling missed several chances and two penalty appeals were turned down.
Despite that they were still in total control courtesy of first-half goals from Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan, and Guardiola admits he doesn’t know how his side are going to respond when they take on Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night with a 3-0 deficit to overturn.
‘I don’t know how we’ll react,’ he confessed. ‘It’s heads up and step forward and try to be professional.’
Mourinho has had to endure a lot of criticism for United’s style of play this season but a famous victory at their ‘noisy neighbours’ will buy him some time among the supporters and he laid down a marker for next season’s title race.
Mourinho added: ‘We are not as bad as people think we are, I’m not as bad a manager as people think I am, the players are not as bad as people say they are, that is what we are going to try and prove.
‘We are professional and we have a big chance to now finish second with this result. I’m really happy for the fans because it’s always important to beat your direct rivals.
‘My objective was not to spoil any celebration because that will come sooner than later. I just wanted to win the points today.’