Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard looked to do his dear Liverpool a favour by halting their closest rivals, and the team he sent out on Sunday afternoon told the same story.
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Super sub Gundogan leads Manchester City to Premier League glory
Liverpool's dreams of a quadruple came to an end after Manchester City defeated Aston Villa in an exciting five-goal thriller on the final day of the English Premier League.
Manchester City won a thrilling five goal encounter with Aston Villa on the final day of the Premier League season
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Manchester City tried to race into the lead with a barrage of shots from the edge of the box, but the Aston Villa defenders bravely threw their bodies in the way of the efforts.
The home fans were soon stunned when Aston Villa took a surprise lead from a counterattack. Lucas Digne whipped in a dangerous ball, and marauding fullback Matty Cash arrived in time to drive a close-range effort home.
Matty Cash stunned the home crowd with a good finish
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Things nearly went from bad to worse for Guardiola's men when two minutes before halftime, Phillipe Coutinho ran into space on the edge of the box and fired in a whipped shot that worried Ederson, but he watched the effort fly past his left-hand post.
Aston Villa continued to defend gallantly, with defenders bravely throwing their bodies into speculative Manchester City efforts. The title seemed to have been out of Manchester City's reach when that man Coutinho doubled the Aston Villa lead.
Coutinho signals to his bench to celebrate his goal
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Ollie Watkins showed good strength to guide a looped header above the Manchester city defenders into the path of Coutinho, who made no mistake from close range.
The making of Champions
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Pep Guardiola had introduced both Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling, and with the title slipping out of his reach, his tactical decision paid dividends.
Sterling surged past a defender before producing an exquisite cross into the box, and German playmaker Ilkay Gundogan scored an emphatic header into the left side of the post.
Gundogan connected perfectly with Raheem Sterling's lofted pass into the box
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Two minutes later, the Cityzens were back in the title race when Spanish midfielder Rodri showed good technique to connect first time with an Oleksandr Zinchenko corner and fired in a powerful volley from the edge of the box.
Rodri levelled the score with a composed finish from the edge of the box
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The comeback was complete within five minutes as Kevin De Bruyne whipped in a good pass across the Aston Villa goal, and Ilkay Gundogan was in the perfect place to grab his brace.
Gundogan on hand to fire in Kevin De Bruyne's whipped cross to the back of the post
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Manchester City held onto their narrow lead and saw out the rest of the match to seal their fourth title in five seasons with a thrilling finale at the Etihad Stadium.
With 29 wins and 99 goals scored, it is hard to argue a case for anyone else being deserving Champions over Manchester City. Pep Guardiola and his men can sit back and enjoy their hard fought victory.
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