Maligned Frenchman the unlikely hero as celebrations put on hold

PAUL POGBA wrecked Manchester City’s title party last night with two goals in 97 stunning second-half 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 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 star turned up at the Etihad with his hair dyed blueand-white, City colours.

TV pundit Gary Neville described the 25-year-old as ‘ridiculous’, though Jose Mourinho had nothing but praise for the inconsistent playmaker and quipped afterwards 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 clubs then the price has now gone up,’ said the United manager.’

He added: ‘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.’

City were kicking themselves at not wrapping up the title against their bitter rivals.

Raheem Sterling missed several excellent chances and two good 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 was asked how his side will 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.’