Manchester, UK (CNN) If you’re going to win a league title, you might as well add a bit of drama.
Manchester City did exactly that when producing a simply stunning comeback to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and win the English Premier League on Sunday.
The host knew a win on the final day of the season would guarantee the title and, despite going 2-0 down, it scored three goals in five second-half minutes to send the Etihad Stadium into delirium.
Fans, many of whom had their heads in their hands for much of the game, ran onto the pitch at full-time to celebrate winning a title race like no other.
While players ran to the tunnel, City supporters danced on the pitch and even broke one of the goals as a spine-tingling rendition of the club’s famous anthem, Blue Moon, filled the air.
Eventually stewards ushered people off the pitch allowing City players to reemerge and parade the trophy in front of an adoring, if not exhausted, crowd.
City’s Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Zinchenko was particularly emotional on the lap of honor. The 25-year-old was in tears as he wrapped the trophy in his country’s flag, paying tribute to those suffering through the war.
As the season was coming to its conclusion, City manager Pep Guardiola said that “the most difficult serve in tennis is the one you have to serve to be champion.”
It was an analogy that couldn’t have proved more fitting on a rollercoaster afternoon in Manchester.
Goals from Matty Cash and former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho looked to have stolen the title from City’s grasp, but Guardiola has assembled a very special side.
While many teams may have wilted under the pressure, City kept pushing and got its reward — with two goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri securing a fourth league title in five years.
It’s an achievement made all the more impressive by the quality of Liverpool, which battled tooth and nail with City throughout the entire season. Its win against Wolves on Sunday proved academic in the end.
City’s victory comes 10 years after Sergio Aguero opened the floodgates to a decade of success at Manchester City, scoring a last-gasp goal on the final day of the season to win his side the league title.
And, minus a goal in the final seconds, this title victory was almost as dramatic, with supporters witnessing the entire spectrum of emotion.
“We are legends,” Guardiola told Sky Sports after the breathtaking match. “When you win the Premier League in this country four times in five seasons it is because these guys are so, so special. We will be remembered.”
