Manchester City won the 2021/22 Premier League title in one of the most dramatic finishes to a season ever, coming from two goals behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2.
City were 2-0 down with 15 minutes left, but three goals in five minutes in the second half meant they ultimately finished first ahead of Liverpool.
City dominated the first half, but failed to create many clear-cut chances. The best fell to Phil Foden, who deflected a shot just wide on 24 minutes, while Gabriel Jesus had two decent efforts inside the box.
But when the goal came it was, incredibly, Villa who netted it. Lucas Digne picked out Matty Cash at the back post with a rare foray forward, and the right-back edged in front of Joao Cancelo and planted his header into the bottom corner.
After the break, the game continued in a similar pattern, City had plenty of chances with Jesus shooting wide within minutes, while Kevin De Bruyne hit a free-kick just over.
But on 69 minutes Villa went down the other end and again netted, this time with former Liverpool man Philippe Coutinho smashing the ball into the bottom corner to give Villa a two-goal lead.
City managed to claw one back soon after as the comeback began, with Raheem Sterling’s floated crossed nodded home by the waiting Ilkay Gundogan.
Then it was level, as Rodri passed the ball beyond Robin Olsen from the edge of the box, while Gundogan incredibly made it 3-2 late on when he tapped into the back of the net to wrap things up.
Liverpool did win 3-1 at Anfield, but it all proved to be for nothing, as City snatched the title in remarkable circumstances.
Here’s how we rated the players...
1. Ederson- 5
Couldn’t have done anything about either Villa goal and was good with his feet as usual.
2. John Stones-5
Was much better at centre-back after the half-time change. Stones dealt better with the threat of Watkins than his defensive colleagues.
3. Fernandinho- 4 (off 46)
His City swansong didn’t quite go to plan, and the City skipper was hooked at the break. He struggled with the pace of Watkins in the first half and misjudged a few high balls in behind the defence.
4. Aymeric Laporte- 6
Performed a great last-ditch tackle to stop Watkins from running in on goal and did the same in the second half, although it proved to be offside. However, the defender failed to cover behind for Coutinho’s goal.