Sunday Mirror

UN CROWNING

Two-nil up and Pep’s boys had the champagne on ice...

- BY SIMON MULLOCK Chief Football Writer

MANCHESTER UNITED produced one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history to wreck Manchester City’s title party.

Pep Guardiola’s men looked set to lift the championsh­ip in record time when they raced into a two-goal half-time lead thanks to goals by Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan.

But with City’s fans starting to celebrate, Jose Mourinho’s men hit back in sensationa­l fashion to stun the Blues. Paul Pogba scored twice in the space of 90 seconds to level the contest – just 24 hours after Guardiola had claimed he turned down the chance to sign the Frenchman in January.

And then Chris Smalling volleyed home a 69th-minute winner to leave the champions elect still waiting for their title.

With City faced with the prospect of trying to overturn Liverpool’s 3-0 Champions League advantage on Tuesday night, Guardiola chose to rest some of his top players.

Sergio Aguero was on the bench, sat alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Kyle Walker.

Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling took turns playing at centre-forward.

United couldn’t lay a glove on City in the first 45 minutes, as they struggled to cope with a wave of attacks.

The home side should have had an early penalty when Ashley Young slipped as he tried to clear David Silva’s cross with his head and the ball appeared to strike his arm.

Referee Martin Atkinson saw it differentl­y. It wouldn’t be the first time he would anger the home side.

David De Gea had to be sharp to block Bernardo Silva’s prod with his legs, but the breakthrou­gh came in the 25th minute.

Leroy Sane swung over a corner from the left and Kompany shrugged off Smalling – who was doing a spot of shirt-pulling – to bullet a header past De Gea.

It got even better for the Blues on the half-hour. De Gea’s poor kick forward was cut out by Sane and when the ball was worked on to Sterling, he picked out Gundogan as the midfielder ghosted into the United box. His toe-poke found the bottom corner. And City should have sealed the game as Sterling, sent clear by David Silva, lifting his shot wastefully over. He then missed an even better chance after once again being fed through the middle by Silva. He fired straight at

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