For the fourth time in five seasons, Manchester City reigns
supreme atop the Premier League table.
Man City won another league title—its second in a row—by
overcoming a late two-goal deficit to defeat Aston Villa, 3–2, and hold off
Liverpool’s charge on the final day of the season.
It seemed as though City would lose the title after falling
behind 2–0 to Villa, but everything changed when Ä°lkay GündoÄŸan scored in the
76th minute. Two minutes later, Rodri equalized before Gündoğan added his
second that ended up being the title-clincher.
Man City had left the door open for the Reds by drawing West
Ham last weekend and dropping two vital points, and Jürgen Klopp’s men took it
to the final day with a come-from-behind win at Southampton with a heavily
rotated squad on Tuesday. But for the second time in four seasons, they finish
one point short of first place.
The result ends Liverpool’s quest for what would have been a
historic quadruple, with the club already having won the League Cup and FA Cup
titles (beating Chelsea in penalty shootouts for both domestic trophies) while
also advancing to the Champions League final. It’ll play Real Madrid for the
European title in Paris on May 28.
This season’s success was achieved without a star striker,
though. Man City didn’t replace Sergio Agüero, with its summer overtures to
sign Harry Kane from Tottenham proving unsuccessful.
Pep Guardiola’s side has still managed to score a
league-high 99 goals, paced by Kevin De Bruyne’s 15, Raheem Sterling’s 13 and
Riyad Mahrez’s 11. Phil Foden (nine), Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva (eight)
also were key contributors, though half of Jesus’s total came in a win over
relegated Watford.
The Brazilian, who has been linked with an exit to Arsenal,
tied with De Bruyne for the club lead in assists with eight. City’s marquee summer
signing, £100 million man Jack Grealish, didn’t factor much into the club’s
success, scoring just three goals in league play. One of those was a big one,
though, helping spark the comeback from 2–0 down to West Ham on Sunday to
salvage the point that put the club in position to clinch Tuesday.
City lost just three times in league play, twice to
Tottenham—the first time coming in the first game of the season—and once to
Crystal Palace, which also held City to a draw in their other meeting. The club
took points off every other team in the league, though and at one point had a
12-match winning streak that ultimately fortified its place atop the table.
Liverpool did manage to overcome a double-digit point
deficit to at one point provisionally take the top spot, but as has been the
case with City throughout its run under Guardiola, it found the requisite
response to become champion once again.
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