Premier League Goal blitz clinches Premier League crown for City
MANCHESTER City staged an amazing comeback from 2-0 down to retain the Premier League title with a dramatic 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
Needing to win to be assured of holding off Liverpool, City were in danger of blowing it as Matty Cash and former Reds star Philippe Coutinho struck at the Etihad Stadium.
Yet Pep Guardiola’s side showed all their champion quality to rally with Ilkay Gundogan coming off the bench to score twice either side of a superb Rodri strike in a remarkable five-minute spell.
City had known that secondplaced Liverpool, trailing by just a point, could overtake them with victory over Wolves and there were times in the afternoon when they lived on their nerves.
When they trailed by two, Liverpool were being held 1-1 and news of another goal at Anfield at that stage, could have been a hammer blow.
Yet in remarkable final-day drama, City cast off the shackles of a dismal first-half display to turn the game around and render Liverpool’s eventual win academic.
Villa took a shock lead eight minutes before the interval. Lucas Digne, the former Everton fullback, broke clear down the left and clipped in a fine cross from the byline. Cash, running in from the opposite side, met it with a firm header which Ederson could not keep out.
With Liverpool having now equalised against Wolves, the mood was transformed. City were stunned and suddenly looked vulnerable.
In the second half, Kevin De Bruyne went close with a dipping free-kick but City were caught out by a long clearance upfield by Robin Olsen, which Ollie Watkins headed on to Coutinho. The Brazilian’s first touch was exquisite and completely wrong-footed Aymeric Laporte, exposing Ederson at the near post. The goal still took some finishing but Coutinho kept his cool and found the bottom corner.
This was now a serious test of City’s mettle, but they rallied.
Substitutes Raheem Sterling and Gundogan combined to pull one back on 76 minutes. Rodri equalised with a shot from the edge of the area, then Gundogan tapped in a De Bruyne cross at the back post.