Sports

Man City retains EPL title, equals Man U’s record

Manchester City has been crowned champions of the 2018/19 English Premier League season, clinching a back-to-back titles. Pep Guardiola’s men clinched the EPL title with a 4-1 victory over Brighton at the Amex stadium on Sunday in an unprecedented title race.

Man City now becomes the first team to retain the title back-to-back since Manchester United a decade ago. Glenn Murray’s header in the 27th minute gave Brighton a shocking lead. But City restored parity at the top of the table, thanks to goals by Sergio Aguero and Aymeric Laporte in the 28th and 38th minutes respectively. In the second half, Riyad Mahrez netted the third goal for City in the 64th minute.

Ilkay Gundogan curled an emphatic free-kick into the top corner for City’s fourth goal in the 72nd minute. They are now one game away from becoming the first English team ever to do the domestic treble as they face Watford in the FA Cup final on May 18. The last team to be top, going into the final day of an English top-flight season, and not winning the title were Liverpool in 1988-89.

The Reds’ long drought continues as they have never won the title in the Premier League era. City won their last 13 Premier League matches to clinch back-to-back titles with victory at Brighton. Six teams have won the Premier League since its inception in 1992. Manchester United have won it the most – 13 times under Sir Alex Ferguson. The other winners are Blackburn Rovers (one title), Arsenal (three), Chelsea (four), Manchester City (three) and Leicester City (one). The Cable

Pix: ManCity team