Manchester City display astounding character to become ‘back to back’ Premier League champions
Manchester City Flag
On Sunday, Man City displayed their perplexing character once again to show why they deserve to be named alongside the greatest Premier League sides. When Liverpool had taken the lead at Anfield against Wolves, Klopp’s side went into pole position and the pressure was on Man City.
To make matters worse, Glenn Murray scored the opening goal for Brighton against Man City and the wildest cheer for the Brighton striker didn’t come from the Amex stadium but instead, it came from the Scousers at Anfield. Most teams that have won the Premier League recently would have cracked under pressure after such a grueling season but not this ‘typical’ City side.
The sky blues reacted immediately after Brighton scored and David Silva’s deft touch set Aguero one on one against Ryan. Man City’s leading goal scorer scored through the legs of the keeper and Brighton’s lead lasted only 83 seconds.
Man City needed a win to seal the title victory and one of Man City’s unsung heroes of the season – Aymeric Laporte came up with a towering header to put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead in both the match and the Premier League table. Man City’s quality and composure were too much for Brighton to handle and the seagulls had no answer to the Citizens in the second half.
Riyad Mahrez’s selection raised some eyebrows but the Algerian justified his manager’s decision to start him by dribbling with his silky touches and sharp turns. He topped it off by scoring a magnificent goal from outside the box to extend Man City’s lead. Gundagon made it four on the day for City with a sublime freekick to beat Ryan on goal. Pep Guardiola’s side got their 14th consecutive win in style by brushing aside the seagulls to defend their crown successfully.
Man City didn’t look fazed when they went behind early in the game and how the match progressed defines what they have gone through over the course of this season. Manchester City were trailing Liverpool by 7 points a few months back and at that point, it seemed like the reigning champions would be relinquishing their crown. Despite the odds stacked against them, this City side refused to give up and fought till the very end.
Pep Guardiola’s intense training made the Citizens cope with the pressure of defending the EPL crown – a feat never achieved by any team in the last decade. Man City had to put in gritty performances week after week to make sure the Premier League title stayed at the Etihad after the best title race in the history of the competition came to an end.
It took 14 straight wins for Man City to score a mammoth 98 points and finish one point ahead of Liverpool. This is probably Liverpool’s greatest ever side in terms of quality as well as the number of points scored but they still finished second to this incredible Man City side.
That is the bar set by Manchester City. The number of points that would let a team win the Premier League title in 25 out of 27 seasons since it’s inception is now not enough. The two exceptions in the list belong to this City side that has made scoring 95+ points in a season seem effortless.
Pep Guardiola has taken the Premier League to new heights and his Manchester City side have a legitimate case to be made for them to be called the ‘best ever Premier League side’ after winning back to back Premier Leagues. They have done it with both character and style by breaking records left, right and centre.
Man City are on course to win the domestic treble if they beat Watford in the FA Cup final on Saturday – another feat that has never been achieved by any Premier League side. Following up a record 100 point season with another 98 point season is uncharted territory in the most competitive league in the World and that’s exactly what Pep Guardiola’s ‘back to back’ EPL Champions have done. The detractors of Pep’s Man City are running out of reasons to deny this fantastic side the credit they deserve – the label of ‘the best Premier League side in history’.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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