Manchester City came from behind to retain the Premier League title in style with a 4-1 victory at Brighton on the final day of the season.
As Manchester City and Liverpool’s title-deciding matches began, City looked on course for a nerve-jangling final outing at the Amex Stadium when Sadio Mane struck an opener for Liverpool at Anfield against Wolves, moving the reds temporarily to the top of the Premier league table.
As the news of Liverpool’s early lead flew into City’s camp, Alireza Jahanbakhsh of Brighton flashed a fierce drive inches wide of goal on nine minutes, an effort which forced Guardiola to squat in his technical area as the pressure mounted.
Meanwhile, prior to the matches, Brighton had relished the prospect of potentially crashing City’s coronation. And they worked tactically as scripted, taking a well-deserved lead at the Amex stadium when Glenn Murray headed them into the lead on 27 minutes.
But City responded like an awaiting champion through Sergio Aguero just 83 seconds after Murray’s opener. David Silva’s neat flick was brought under control by the Argentine, and he immediately eased the champions’ nerves with a clinical finish past Mat Ryan. Few minutes before the end of the first half, the Brighton goalkeeper prevented Bernardo Silva from heading a now-rampant City into the lead on the half-hour mark, but he was helpless seven minutes later as Laporte was given the freedom of the penalty area and he completed the turnaround with a header from Mahrez’s corner.
City laid siege to the Brighton goal early in the second half and got the two-goal cushion they desired as Riyad Mahrez rifled the citizens’ third into the top corner on 63 minutes before an exquisite Ilkay Gundogan free-kick sparked wild scene of celebrations among Pep Guardiola’s players and staff.
City’s 13th consecutive league victory sees them end one of the most remarkable Premier League title races on top of the pile with 98 points, and sees them become the first side since 2009 to retain the title.
Samson Oyedeyi
