Man City are the best Premier League team ever after holding off Liverpool charge
THERE IS no doubt in my mind this Manchester City team is the best side we have ever seen in the Premier League.
Yes, Manchester United won the Treble and Arsenal’s Invincibles went unbeaten — but this City side eclipses the lot.
To romp to the title last season with 100 points and then to back that up with 98 points is extraordinary.
They’re the first team to win back-to-back titles since Manchester United in 2007-8 and 2008-9.
And the style and swagger they have achieved it with has been remarkable.
And I can’t see any reason why they can’t make more history to win three on the bounce!
Last year was amazing in its own right, but nobody could lay a glove on them as they romped to the title.
But to get over the line with Liverpool matching them step for step in such an intense and relentless run-in sets City apart.
They’ve had to be at the top of their game week in, week out, knowing one slip up would almost certainly see Liverpool take advantage.
And the run they have been on in 2019 is something else, winning 18 league games since January, with only Newcastle taking any points off them.
SHEAR DESIRE
Even more staggering is that City have won 51 of their 60 games — scoring 163 goals — in all competitions this season.
And they’ve got one game to go, an FA Cup final against Watford as they attempt to become the first side to win the domestic treble.
Pep Guardiola deserves enormous amounts of credit for this.
While others slack off in the League and FA Cup, he has gone hard for every trophy. He’s relentless in his pursuit of excellence and their ability to maintain this high standard all stems from him.
I didn’t think it would all be plain-sailing for them at the Amex yesterday, and so it proved.
Once they went 1-0 down to Glenn Murray’s header it was crucial they equalised quickly.
So for their Argentinian wonder striker Sergio Aguero to level it up just 83 seconds later was simply huge.
PEP NUMERO UNO
From then on it was just a matter of time before they got another and sealed the title.
For Liverpool, I’m reluctant to say they’ve lost the title as they pushed City until the very end.
They deserve huge credit and, while they might not have felt it after the final whistle at Anfield, they still have a chance to make it a remarkable season with Champions League glory.
But with the gap between them and City only one point in the end, you’ve got to look back at the head-to-heads between the two.
At the Etihad in January, second-placed City won 2-1 to close the gap to just four points.
Even a draw would have kept Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead by seven points, so they will likely look back at that as the key game.
Despite that, Liverpool and City need congratulating for setting such high standards in what has been the greatest season since the Premier League began in 1992.
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And yesterday finished off the greatest week of football I can remember.
Starting with Vincent Kompany’s screamer against Leicester and ending with both City and Liverpool winning, it’s been amazing.
Let’s just hope next season produces something as special!