Premier League 2018/19 - 5 games that defined the title race

The greatest title race in the history of the Premier League is over and after 38 gruelling games, it is Pep Guardiola's Manchester City left standing tall at the finish line.

Finishing with an astonishing 98 points, just one ahead of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side, Guardiola's team may well go down in history as the greatest Premier League side in history and their persistence during this year's title race highlights just how brilliant they truly are.

Credit must also go to Klopp's team as well, who have been unlucky enough to come up against the greatest team the division has ever seen.

This year's title race has been one hell of a roller-coaster ride, and it will be analysed and revisited for years to come.

Now that the dust has finally settled on the campaign and City's name has once again been etched into the trophy, let's take a look back at five games that ultimately decided this year's title race.

#5 Liverpool 1-1 Leicester City- 30th January

Liverpool could have restored their seven point lead

Just 24 hours before this game had taken place, Manchester City had surprisingly come unstuck at St James' Park, surrendering an eight-match unbeaten run to a Matt Ritchie penalty and providing Liverpool with the opportunity to once again restore their seven-point lead at the top of the table.

Klopp's men, however, failed to capitalise on their home turf against a determined Leicester side, with Harry Maguire cancelling out Sadio Mane's early opener to snatch a draw and dent Liverpool's title hopes.

City would not drop any points following this game, and this was Liverpool's last chance to capitalise and build on their lead.

Leicester had previously beaten Manchester City just before Christmas, helping Liverpool to open up their considerable lead at the start of the year, and the former Premier League Champions would nearly threaten to derail City right at the end of the campaing as well.

#4 Brighton 1-4 Manchester City- May 12th

City survived a very brief scare on the final day

While in the eyes of many fans, Manchester City's victory over Brighton on the final day of the season felt like a done deal, there were still those who believed that Chris Houghton's men were capable of springing a last day surprise on the reigning champions.

And that's exactly what they nearly did when Glenn Murray caught City napping from a corner in the 27th minute to put Brighton into the lead. That lead lasted precisely 83 seconds before Sergio Aguero, no stranger to last day drama, coolly slotted away following some excellent build-up play.

City would grab a second through Aymeric Laporte just before half-time, and goals from Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan would seal Manchester City's fourth Premier League trophy and their second successive one under Pep Guardiola.

City's composed final day performance, even after going 1-0 down epitomised why they have been able to amass 198 points over two seasons and was a fitting end to one of the best title races in Premier League history.

#3 Everton 0-0 Liverpool- March 3rd

Liverpool's draw with Everton would prove costly

Speak to any Everton fan on the planet right now and they will be laying claim to the fact that they were the last team to take points off Jurgen Klopp's side this season and that it was this draw that ultimately cost them the Premier League.

Heading into this game, a win for Liverpool would have put them one point clear at the top of the league, and that one point would have proved vital given the results that followed this game for both teams.

After a calamitous mistake cost Everton a draw against Liverpool back in December, the Toffees put on a spirited display to deny their rivals the double over them this season, with Liverpool's top scorer Mohamed Salah missing two notable chances during the game.

While Everton may still be waiting for a derby day win over their Merseyside rivals, this result and the fact that it cost Liverpool the title will more than suffice.

#2 Manchester City 1-0 Leicester- May 6th

Vincent Kompany's screamer all but decided the title race

When people look back on the moment that Manchester City won the Premier League in 2018/19, most people will point towards Vincent Kompany's exceptional goal against Leicester City at the Etihad in the penultimate game of the campaign.

With City needing a victory to regain their top spot heading into the final day, they had to overcome a spirited Leicester City side who had handed a surprising defeat earlier in the campaign.

Brendan Rodgers' Leicester side presented City with one of their most challenging home games of the season and ultimately, it was a wonder strike from Vincent Kompany, of all people, that settled the tie.

With only one game to go against Brighton on the final day, many football fans felt that this was going to be the game that would setlle the title race, and in the end, that turned out to be the case.

#1 Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool- January 3rd

Of course, perhaps the most vital game of the Premier League season, the one that really changed the tide of the title race, came when the two teams chasing the title met at the start of January.

'Fine margins' has been the phrase used by Manchester City's social media sites over the last week and there were fewer margins finer than the one that kept out Sadio Mane's effort at the Etihad, with the ball being a mere 11 millimetres away from crossing the line.

Guardiola's men would go on to punish that near miss, with Sane scoring perhaps the most important goal of the Premier League season late in the game to pick up the victory for Man City following earlier goals from Sergio Aguero and Robert Firminio.

The game saw Manchester City cut Liverpool's lead from 7 points to 4 and slowly begin to swing momentum back in their favour.

This was also Liverpool's only defeat of the season, meaning that had they won this game, they would have finished the season with the trophy, 100 points and an unbeaten league campaign. Fine margins indeed.