Man City secured EPL but Aston Villa were holding up the bargain

Man City secured EPL but Aston Villa were holding up the bargain for about 76 minutes in a thrilling match.

On Sunday, Manchester City won their fourth Premier League title in five years, but they almost let it slip away when they came back from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 with three goals in an exciting five minutes late in the second half.

With City trailing 2-0, Liverpool looked destined to capture the title before Ilkay Gundogan scored, Rodri equalized, and then Germany midfielder Gundogan scored the winner in a five-minute stretch.

Manchester City panicked a couple of times against Aston Villa on Sunday’s 3-2 comeback victory, according to midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.

At the final whistle, relieved and happy City fans flooded onto the field after a day of high nerves, tinged with the fear of Liverpool pipping them to the title at the post.

Ilkay Gundogan scored twice as City took the vital three points, making Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers irrelevant.

City were far from their best, lacking flair as they heaped on the pressure in quest of a leveller but barely troubled Robin Olsen in the Villa goal.

Matty Cash put Villa in front in the 37th minute with a fine header from a Lucas Digne cross from the left flank, and the mood in the stadium instantly changed.

Coutinho then doubled the lead for Villa with a goal of pure simplicity.

By then, Liverpool were level with Wolves at the time of Coutinho’s strike, but City knew that a goal for Juergen Klopp’s side could now take the title away from them.

But then came the City comeback blitz that sealed the title regardless of events at Anfield.

Two substitutes combined for the first, with Gundogan heading in a Raheem Sterling cross at the back post in the 76th minute.

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Man City secured EPL

The title-winning goal came in the 81st minute when Kevin De Bruyne whipped in a low cross to Gundogan, who tapped in from close range, sending the crowd into rapturous delight.

“Maybe (City panicked) a couple of times — but it’s normal in this situation,” De Bruyne, who was named the Premier League’s Player of the Season on Saturday, said.

“But we tried to stay as calm as possible but sometimes it was a little bit panicked.

“At 2-1, it just changed the whole situation for me. The stadium, the atmosphere, the players change. We never looked back from there. You just go for it – you’re losing anyway.”

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