Manchester City: Ten games that decided the Premier League title

VaselineMay 19, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Manchester City: Ten games that decided the Premier League title

image source, Getty Images

11 minutes ago

It was one of the biggest title races English football has seen, with this season’s Premier League decided on the final day for only the tenth time.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool battled it out for top spot before Jurgen Klopp’s Reds fell off the pace in recent weeks.

And finally, Manchester City took the crown after beating West Ham to secure a historic fourth title in a row, finishing two points ahead of Arsenal.

With such good margins, here we look at 10 matches where we think the Premier League was won and lost.

Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester City – 27 August

image source, Getty Images

image caption, Manchester City have won their first three league games this season – doing so for the first time since Pep Guardiola’s debut campaign as manager in 2016-17.

Manchester City were minutes away from a slip-up just three games into the season against promoted Sheffield United.

Jayden Bogle canceled out Erling Haaland’s opener by scoring in the 85th minute and the Blades looked set to grab a point against the champions.

But with two minutes left plus stoppage time, key man Rodri hit a magnificent winner.

It gave Pep Guardiola his 200th Premier League win and helped City maintain their perfect start to the season.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool – 30 September

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video subtitling, Klopp furious over VAR controversy

Joel Matip’s own goal deep into stoppage time gave Tottenham victory over nine-man title hopefuls Liverpool in a game full of video assistant referee drama.

The Reds were compromised by controversial red cards as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were sent off either side of the break.

Liverpool had an opener from Luis Diaz ruled out by a hotly contested VAR decision as confusion between the referee and off-field officials led to the wrong verdict.

PGMOL later issued a statement acknowledging that a “significant human error” had occurred, calling the decision to exclude Diaz’s goal “a clear and obvious factual error.”

Jurgen Klopp wanted the game to be replayed but that was never seriously on the cards,

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal – November 4

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video subtitling, Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal: Arteta labels VAR result ’embarrassing’

Four days after the Spurs-Liverpool drama saw Arsenal beaten by VAR controversy, Anthony Gordon’s second-half goal gave Newcastle victory over the title contenders in a heated encounter.

Gordon’s scrappy strike summed up a dogfight of a game, with the video assistant referee having to check whether the ball had gone out of play, whether there was a foul and for offside, all before Newcastle could finally celebrate.

It condemned Arsenal to their first Premier League defeat of the season, with manager Mikel Arteta later calling the VAR decisions “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”.

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal – 31 December

Arsenal ended 2023 in desperate form. Having already lost to Aston Villa and West Ham in December, they were then beaten at Fulham despite taking the lead in the fifth minute.

The Cottagers equalized through Raul Jimenez and Bobby De Cordova-Reid grabbed a winner just before the hour mark.

Arsenal wouldn’t lose again in the league until April, but with the title race looming, the three points dropped against Fulham seem key.

The defeat left Arsenal fourth and two points behind then-leaders Liverpool and level on points with Manchester City, who had a game in hand.

image caption, Arsenal were five points clear at the top of the Premier League table in mid-December

image caption, But the Gunners had dropped to fourth place by January 1

Newcastle 2-3 Man City – January 13

At one point in January, Manchester City were five points behind leaders Liverpool and 2-1 down against Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Kevin de Bruyne made all the difference in City’s recovery on Tyneside, coming off the bench for his first appearance since picking up a hamstring injury in August.

He equalized in the 74th minute and set up Oscar Bobb, who won the match with his first Premier League goal in extra time.

The result meant City were just hanging on.

Brentford 1-3 Man City – 5 February

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image caption, Phil Foden scored his second Premier League hat-trick after scoring three with Manchester United in October 2022

Manchester City don’t have the greatest record against Brentford, even losing home and away to the Bees last season.

They went one goal down in February at the Gtech Community Stadium and needed some brilliance from Phil Foden to level at half-time.

The Englishman added two more goals after the restart to complete his second Premier League hat-trick and send City into second place above Arsenal.

It was a game that proved two things: City were still in the title race and Foden was becoming a fixture in Guardiola’s side.

Liverpool 1-1 Man City – March 10

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video subtitling, Doku’s challenge was ‘a clear penalty’ – Mac Allister

Liverpool and City played out a thrilling draw to keep both teams hot on Arsenal’s heels in March.

City took the lead in the 23rd minute from a routine corner but were pegged back by Alexis Mac Allister’s 50th-minute penalty after goalkeeper Ederson fouled Darwin Nunez.

In the closing stages the Reds created chance after chance as City hit the woodwork twice on the break.

The game almost took a final turn when City’s Jeremy Doku caught Liverpool’s Mac Allister with a high foot in the box in the dying seconds, but nothing was to be had.

Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa – April 14

Aston Villa produced an outstanding performance to stun Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and put Manchester City back in pole position for the title.

The Gunners had a rare off day, conceding late goals through Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins to slump to their first league defeat since 2024.

It meant Arsenal missed out on a chance to return to the top of the table and ended the day two points behind City.

Arsenal’s disappointing result completed a good weekend for Guardiola’s City side after they won 5-1 against Luton and Crystal Palace shocked Liverpool 1-0.

image caption, Manchester City returned to the top of the table in mid-April

Everton 2-0 Liverpool – April 24

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image caption, Jurgen Klopp tasted defeat at Goodison Park in his last Merseyside derby

Did Liverpool really lose the league at Goodison Park?

The cracks had started to appear 10 days earlier with home defeat to Palace missing the chance to go top and falling two points behind leaders City.

Jarrad Branthwaite’s first-half goal and a Dominic Calvert-Lewin header after half-time gave Everton their first home win in the Merseyside derby since October 2010.

It left Liverpool three points clear of Arsenal and just one point ahead of City, who had played two games less.

Subsequent draws against West Ham and Aston Villa meant Jurgen Klopp’s side were mathematically out of the title race with two games to play.

Tottenham 0-2 Man City – May 14

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image caption, Manchester City substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega brilliantly denied Son Heung-min

Manchester City moved one win away from a fourth consecutive Premier League title with victory at Tottenham – a game that had been written off by many as the last big hurdle in the title race.

Erling Haaland’s second-half brace settled a close encounter in which substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega substituted superbly for the visitors.

The American did well to deny Spurs captain Son Heung-min, who had a golden chance to equalize just before City’s second.

According to Opta, Arsenal would have had an 81% chance of winning the title if City had lost to Tottenham – and a 75% chance if that game had ended in a draw.

VaselineMay 19, 2024

0 5 minutes read

Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester City – 27 August

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool – 30 September

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal – November 4

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal – 31 December

Newcastle 2-3 Man City – January 13

Brentford 1-3 Man City – 5 February

Liverpool 1-1 Man City – March 10

Arsenal 0-2 Aston Villa – April 14

Everton 2-0 Liverpool – April 24

Tottenham 0-2 Man City – May 14

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