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Manchester City won the Premier League title after beating Brighton 4-1 last weekend. They finished just one point ahead of second-placed Liverpool in one of the most absorbing title races of all time. It was their second consecutive league win under Pep Guardiola, who has now won eight domestic league titles in his managerial career.
City had won the league title quite comfortably last season as they finished 19 points ahead of second-placed Manchester United. However, they faced stiff competition from Liverpool, who led the league table during Christmas, this season. However, City came back strongly to beat Liverpool in their league match, and subsequently left them behind in the league table.
We would now take a look at the 3 primary reasons behind City’s title triumph:
#1 Tactical flexibility and squad depth
City have enviable depth in their squad, and are very flexible tactically. They made some improvisations in some of the league matches to showcase their flexibility. They also have arguably, the strongest bench in the world, and could afford to fall back to their reserve players as per the demands of the situations.
City have mostly played with a 4-3-3 formation this season, but Guardiola tinkered with their shape at times. For example, they adopted a 3-5-2 formation against Liverpool at Anfield. They could not afford to lose that game and played Riyad Mazhrez as the right full-back in order to stick to their preferred shape.
They again played a 4-5-1 formation against Arsenal at the Etihad as Fernandinho featured as a de-facto centre-back at times. Aymeric Laporte moved to the left-back position to accommodate Fernandinho in central defence.
Their bench-strength can be gauged from the fact that players like Mahrez, Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane have spent a considerable part of the season warming the bench. Still, they have delivered whenever they have been given a chance to play. Mahrez scored against Brighton and Kompany struck a stunning winner against Leicester City to help their team win the title.
#2 Key attacking players performing well
City’s key attacking players such as Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and David Silva played really well this season and did justice to the faith kept on them by City’s management. Sterling had the best season of his career and notched up 17 goals and 10 assists in the league. He was also adjudged the best player in the Premier League by the sports journalists in England.
The 32-year-old Aguero also rolled back the years and scored 20 goals in the league this season. He scored the vital away goal against Burnley when the match seemed to be veering towards a draw. Aguero also scored hat-tricks, including one in the 6-0 win against Chelsea, and pushed a much younger Gabriel Jesus to the sidelines for the majority of the season.
Midfielder David Silva also had a good season and delivered eight assists in the league. Moreover, Bernardo Silva, the Portuguese midfielder, emerged as an outstanding player in City’s midfield and helped them win quite a few matches. The consistent performances of the aforementioned players helped City to the title.
#3 Solid defensive displays
City managed to keep 20 clean sheets in the league this season, and conceded only 23 goals in 38 matches. Only Liverpool conceded less goals than them in the league this season. City’s defenders put in some lively performances to help the team to the title.
Laporte emerged as a great defensive talent in his first full season at the Etihad. He played 29 matches in the Premier league this season and was one of the best centre-backs in the league, along with Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. Moreover, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kompany and Nicoals Otamendi also chipped in with some solid performances.
City had some problems with Benjamin Mendy in the left-back position as he could not feature much because of an injury problem. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko emerged as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League and made the position his own in the second half of the season. He remains one of the finds of the season for Guardiola, and the Ukranian promises to have a great future ahead.
