Manchester City 3-2 Aston Villa: Ilkay Gundogan comes off the bench to win Premier League title

They do not do things by halves, this football club. Not on the last day of the season. Not with the title in the balance.

Pep Guardiola called it. ‘If we don’t win, Liverpool win the league,’ he predicted. And he was right. Liverpool did their part, coming from behind to beat Wolves. Steven Gerrard did his part, too, his Aston Villa taking a two goal lead at the Etihad Stadium. And Manchester City? They looked to have blown it, again.

After the crushing disappointment against Real Madrid in the Champions League, they looked likely to become the first team to surrender the title, having led the table on the final day.

Gundogan then sent the home side into raptures by scoring the second to put City back on course to win the league title

The German midfielder tapped home at the back post in a second half cameo that will go down in living memory for the hosts

Pep Guardiola celebrates after Gundogan scored the dramatic winning goal in a stunning five minute burst from his side

City’s substitutes including Jack Grealish run from the bench after seeing their side clinch the Premier League title

And then, arguably the greatest comeback of all. Greater than the Aguerooo moment. Yes, because the road back was so much harder. QPR were down to ten men that day, and already relegated. Villa are dangerous. Coached and peopled with the off Liverpool legend. And they were ahead by two goals.

One of the Reds’ legends had seen to that. Philippe Coutinho turning Aymeric Laporte inside out, after Ollie Watkins had beaten Rodri to a big goal goal-kick. There were 21 minutes to go. With the games as they stood, City needed three goals, if Liverpool so much as scored one. Which they duly did.

But it did not matter because here, the miracle happened. City scored three, to win. City scored three in the space of six minutes. City came back from 2-0 down for the first time since February 28, 2005 against Norwich. They were a different club, back then. Not long out of the third tier.

Ilkay Gundogan came off the bench to head a goal back for City with 14 minutes to play following a Raheem Sterling cross

Ollie Watkins looks on as Gundogan runs the ball back to the centre-circle looking for a quick restart in their title bid

Just two minutes later Rodri grabbed a dramatic equaliser with a low strike from the edge of the box for the home side

The midfielder celebrates his goal as City suddenly burst into life having grabbed two late goals at the Etihad Stadium

So this was remarkable. Truly remarkable. The last man to affect City like this on the final day of the season now has a statue outside the ground. Maybe Ilkay Gundogan will get one beside him. He scored two of the goals, the first and last. All were important, but Gundogan started the ball rolling, and then won the league.

The first came after 76 minutes. Raheem Sterling, like Gundogan a second-half substitute, crossed from the right and Gundogan met it with his head at the far post. Roars replaced the grumbling, muttering silence that had consumed the ground. Just three minutes later Rodri as good as side-footed the ball past stand-in Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen from 20 yards.

And then, with eight minutes remaining, the biggest goal of City’s season. Credit Kevin De Bruyne here. He spied that Villa didn’t have the ball under control and drove to win it. He then saw Gundogan lurking against at the far post. A cross begged for the simplest conversion. Gundogan delivered it. This was the football City had failed to play until it was almost too late. Clinical, straightforward, technically excellent. This was the football of champions. Where were they, for so long?

Matty Cash stunned Manchester City after giving Aston Villa the lead in the 37th minute as he celebrates in front of Villa fans

Cash attacked the penalty area to head home after getting on the end of a cross from Villa team-mate Lucas Digne

Philippe Coutinho doubled Aston Villa’s lead to leave the defending Premier League champions stunned in the second half

The former Liverpool playmaker celebrates his goal as City defenders stand dejected in the background at the Etihad

Tense, nervous headache? There wouldn’t have been an Anadin pill big enough to cure the ills of Manchester City’s fans at half-time here. As for Pep Guardiola, a straitjacket couldn’t have contained him. When have we seen City play like this. West Ham last week, you might say. That was different.

City were lousy for 45 minutes in their previous game. Unrecognisable, really. This was tangibly City, but almost a lite version. They dominated possession, but with none of the same certainty. They tried moves that were alien to them. Long range pot shots, unnecessarily difficult passes. They tried too hard, whilst lacking the usual zip.

Maybe they heard the news of the early Wolves goal at Anfield and became convinced of the inevitability of the win. Maybe they were nervous, rattled by the thought of winning nothing as Liverpool won everything. Who knows why good teams go bad like this. And City were rotten in the first-half, no doubting that.

City came out attacking at the start of the second half as Kevin de Bruyne volleys a shot over the Villa crossbar

Moments later Gabriel Jesus on the stretch failed to connect at the back post to a cross in an attempt to bring City level

Ederson was unable to keep out Cash’s effort as frustration grew among the home fans following a poor first half for their side

City players Rodri (left), Joao Cancelo (centre) and Aymeric Laporte look on after falling behind against Aston Villa

Given the standards they have set it couldn’t be argued that Aston Villa weren’t good for their lead. It wasn’t as if they dominated. More, they defended expertly and took the best chance they created. City didn’t have an effort on target in the first 45 minutes; incredible given the circumstances, and at home.

Indeed, until the 24th minute their only opportunity came when Villa’s stand-in and rather shaky goalkeeper Robin Olsen took too long over a clearance and banged it into a charging Gabriel Jesus. Fortunately for Villa, the ball spun wide.

There was then a wait until a chance of City’s creation. It began when a Villa attack broke down and Kevin De Bruyne sprinted the length of the field before slipping at a vital moment. The ball ran fortuitously for Jesus, who put Phil Foden in, his shot deflecting wide. In the 31st minute, Foden won a tackle magnificently and fed Jesus whose shot was struck poorly and wide.

Ollie Watkins missed an excellent opportunity to give Aston Villa a 2-0 lead as his lofted shot over Ederson bounced wide

Guardiola gives instructions to his team during a frustrating first half for his side as City players look on at the Etihad

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard greets Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola before the game at the Etihad Stadium

By now, the mood was edgy. Joao Cancelo and Fernandinho, in particular, were struggling defensively and Villa were beginning to look dangerous on the counter.

After 37 minutes, those worst fears were confirmed. A great carry through the middle by Jacob Ramsey saw the ball passed wide to Lucas Digne, and his cross was struck perfectly for Matty Cash, arriving with great timing at the far post and getting in front of Cancelo.

Suddenly, with Liverpool now drawing, City were leading the table on goal difference alone – and trailing on the day. It would have been worse, too, had Ollie Watkins not overrun a one on one chance shortly before half-time. Guardiola had seen enough. Fernandinho was removed at half-time. Replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko. This was serious.