Ilkay Gundogan hailed Manchester City’s “incredible” Premier League title triumph as the German midfielder came off the bench to spark their astonishing fightback to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Sunday, the last day of the season.
Pep Guardiola’s side were in grave danger of blowing the title after falling two goals behind at the Etihad Stadium, with a victory required to be sure of beating Liverpool to the trophy.
However, German international Gundogan proved to be City’s superhero substitute as he headed home to give them a lifeline in the 76th minute.
Photo: AFP
After Rodri equalized, it was Gundogan who wrote his name into City’s history books with the 81st minute winner from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross.
City finished just one point ahead of Liverpool, and Gundogan admitted that he was almost at a loss for words after the dramatic denouement.
“It was an unbelievable game,” Gundogan said. “We are human beings and after going 2-0 down the chances were just very, very small.”
“But we had to do the simple things — and scoring two goals quickly and then having 10 minutes to score the third one gave us the right lift,” Gundogan added. “It was about getting that goal and then the momentum was on our side, then we were able to score three goals in just a few minutes. These are the days you look back to — it was an unbelievable game.”
Gundogan paid tribute to Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp, who he played for at Borussia Dortmund, for pushing City to the wire before falling short in their bid for an unprecedented quadruple.
Liverpool trailed City by 14 points in January and only Gundogan’s last-gasp heroics stopped the Reds from stealing away the title.
“I know it’s tough to say, but if Liverpool did not play the way they play — incredible football and successful — I don’t think this league could have been that attractive,” Gundogan said. “Even though they finished behind us, I think they played an incredible season. We pushed each other to the limits again.”
City midfielder De Bruyne was at his best when his side needed him most, but the Premier League’s Player of the Season admitted that he was starting to panic as time ticked away.
“We tried to stay as calm as possible, but sometimes it was a little bit panicked — maybe a couple of times. It’s normal in this situation. It’s so different,” De Bruyne said. “You just go for it — you’re losing anyway. You want to change the situation and that’s what we did.”
“At 2-1 it just changed the whole situation for me. The stadium, the atmosphere, the players change. We never looked back from there,” De Bruyne said. “It’s hard because Liverpool push you that far and you need to be excellent all the time.”
City forward Jack Grealish is a Premier League champion for the first time after joining from Villa last year.
Grealish has struggled to replicate his Villa form in a City shirt and he vowed to improve after a difficult first season in Manchester.
“I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone to come here. It’s been difficult. Way harder than I thought, but today just makes up for all of it,” Grealish said. “I know I can kick on and I certainly will. I feel like I’ve played my part in games.”
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