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Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has admitted that his side panicked during their final match of the Premier League season before securing the title ahead of Liverpool.
Going into their final game of the season against Aston Villa on 22 May, City held a one-point advantage over the Reds, who hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers. Liverpool went behind after just three minutes but equalized in the 24th minute with the match at the Etihad still evenly poised at 0-0.
In the 37th minute, Villa took the lead as Matty Cash headed home from close range. Steven Gerrard's men made it 2-0 in the 69th minute through Philippe Coutinho to hand Liverpool, who needed just one more goal, the initiative in the title race.
However, Manchester City staged an incredible comeback, scoring thrice in six minutes to win the match 3-2. Liverpool also scored twice more in the second half to beat Wolves 3-1 but ultimately fell short of reclaiming the Premier League title by a solitary point.
Speaking after the match, De Bruyne admitted that he and his teammates struggled to remain calm against Villa. He told Sky Sports (as quoted by Reuters):
"Maybe (City panicked) a couple of times -- but it's normal in this situation. But we tried to stay as calm as possible but sometimes it was a little bit panicked."
The Belgian added that substitute Ilkay Gundogan's goal to make it 2-1 brought about a massive change in their attitude and the atmosphere at the Etihad:
"At 2-1, it just changed the whole situation for me. The stadium, the atmosphere, the players change. We never looked back from there. You just go for it - you're losing anyway."
Super-sub Ilkay Gundogan helps Manchester City seal Premier League title ahead of Liverpool
Staring at a 2-0 deficit with around 20 minutes to play, Guardiola threw on Gundogan and Oleksandr Zinchenko for Manchester City. The changes led to City showing signs of life as they recovered their sense of purpose and composure on the ball.
Gundogan ultimately got his side back into the game in the 76th minute, thundering a header home after some good work by Raheem Sterling on the right. Two minutes later, City were level as Rodri steered in a neat finish at Rob Olsen's near-post.
Gundogan wrapped up the title for the defending champions with a tap-in from De Bruyne's excellent cross in the 81st minute. The Cityzens held on until full-time to collect their fourth title in five seasons.
