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.
City looked on course for a nerve-jangling final outing at
the Amex Stadium when Sadio Mane's opener for Liverpool against Wolves - which
temporarily moved the Reds top of the table - was compounded by Glenn Murray
heading Brighton into the lead on 27 minutes.
But City produced the response of champions. Sergio Aguero
struck just 83 seconds after Murray's opener, before Aymeric Laporte's header
secured a half-time lead.
Riyad Mahrez rifled City's third into the top corner on 63
minutes before an exquisite Ilkay Gundogan free-kick sparked wild scenes of
celebrations among Pep Guardiola's players and staff.
City's 14th 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.
How City survived scare to retain title
Brighton relished the prospect of going against the script
to potentially crash City's coronation. Alireza Jahanbakhsh 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.
News of Mane's opener on 17 minutes at Anfield trickled
through, and the plot thickened 10 minutes later as Murray beat Ederson at the
near post to head Brighton in front with his 14th goal of the season.
Team news
Brighton: Anthony Knockaert and Beram Kayal returned as
Solly March and Dale Stephens dropped out. Bruno captained the Seagulls for the
final time ahead of his retirement. Man
City: Riyad Mahrez replaced Phil Foden in Manchester City’s only change from
Monday’s win over Leicester.
But the lead was short-lived. David Silva's neat flick was
brought under control by Aguero, and he immediately eased the champions' nerves
with a clinical finish past Mat Ryan.
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 before the interval as Laporte was given the freedom of
the penalty area and 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 Mahrez shifted the ball away
from Lewis Dunk and fired through the despairing dive of Ryan.
And City's celebrations were put into motion on 72 minutes
when Gundogan left Ryan with no chance as he curled a sumptuous 25-yard
free-kick over the Brighton wall and into the top corner.
Opta stats
Manchester City have won their fourth Premier League title -
only Manchester United (13) and Chelsea (5) have ever won more in the
competition.
Overall, Manchester City have won their sixth English
top-flight title. They're the first side to retain the title since Manchester
United in 2008-09.
This was the eighth time the Premier League title has been
decided on the final day of the season, with Manchester City winning it on
three of those occasions (2011-12, 2013-14 and 2018-19).
Manchester City's haul of 98 points is the joint-second
highest for any team in English top-flight history (converting to three points
for a win) - only the Citizens themselves have ever earned more (100 in
2017-18).
Manchester City have won their last 14 Premier League games
- only the Citizens themselves (18 in December 2017) have had a longer winning
run in the competition.
Manchester City have won 32 Premier League games this season
- equalling their own record in the competition from last season for most wins
in a single campaign in the competition.
Sergio Aguero has scored 32 goals in all competitions for
Man City this season - only in 2016-17 (33) has he scored more in a single
campaign for the Citizens.
Glenn Murray has scored 36% of Brighton's overall Premier
League goals (25/69), the highest proportion of any team's goals in the
competition's history.
The managers
Pep Guardiola says the reality of retaining the Premier
League title is incredible and praised his side for an amazing season.
Pep Guardiola: "I have to say congratulations to
Liverpool of course. Thank you so much. They helped to push us and to increase
our standards from last season. To compete against this team pushed us to do
what we have done. It's incredible, 198 points in two seasons to go back-to-back.
We made the standard higher last season and Liverpool helped us - to win this
title we had to win 14 in a row. We couldn't lose one point. It's the toughest
title we have won in all my career, by far."
Brighton manager Chris Hughton says he couldn't have asked
for more effort from his side as they fell to a 4-1 defeat against Manchester
City.
Chris Hughton: "For a good period of the game, we were
able to give them a good game and that's what I wanted, but the fact their
equaliser was so quick after our goal, that really hurt us."
The final Premier League table
Man of the Match - Riyad Mahrez
Having opened the door to Liverpool in the title race with
his missed penalty at Anfield in October, Mahrez made amends with the goal
which kick-started the Manchester City titles celebrations on the south coast.
It was fitting and just finale to the Algerian's first season with City as he
secured his second Premier League winners' medal.
