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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been awarded the Premier League's Manager of the season award, for guiding the Cityzens to their second consecutive EPL title. Chased all the way by a relentless Liverpool side, Guardiola and his wards kept their calm, coming back from a goal down to trounce Brighton and Hove Albion 1-4 on Sunday.
Guardiola's Manchester City joined an elite club consisting of Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary 2008-09 Manchester United side and Jose Mourinho's 2005-06 Chelsea outfit as the only teams to have successfully defender their Premier League crowns.
The Spanish tactician became the first manager to win the Manager of the Season award for two seasons consecutively in over 12 years, since Sir Alex Ferguson won three on the trot from 2006 to 2009. After winning the EPL, Guardiola remarked that this was the most difficult title race that he had experienced in his managerial career. When asked whether this was his favourite title win, he said:
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"Well, I wouldn't say that because the first league with Barcelona, when we won 6-2 at the Bernabeu, was incredible for me. I was in my first year as coach in my hometown, with the club of my heart, with the club I love the most. But this was my most difficult, because of them [Liverpool], because of their quality."
The ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager was heaped with praise from fans, pundits and even rival fans on winning the accolade, with many laudiing his his haul of 906 out of 1,104 available points won (82% win rate) in the past 10 seasons. Others pointed out with this EPL triumph, Guardiola edged ahead of legendary former Porto and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as the active manager with the most trophy wins with 26 to the Portuguese's 25.
