sport news Man City v Liverpool: The 10 games that swung the Premier League title race ... trends now
The Premier League title race went down to the wire again and was decided after one of the most dramatic final days in recent memory.
Man City ensured they won their fourth crown in five years after coming from two goals down to beat Aston Villa through an Ilkay Gundogan-inspired comeback.
There was therefore little Liverpool could do, despite their 3-1 win against Wolves, as they finished runners-up to City for the second time in three years.
But once the dust settles, both sets of fans will perhaps look back at the unexpected twists and the turns, and how lessons could be learned from them.
Liverpool could perhaps have exerted even further pressure on the champions, while City nearly threw a 13-point lead away.
Here, Sportsmail looks at the 10 games that proved crucial in the title race as Pep Guardiola's men edged out their counterparts at Anfield again.
Manchester City won their fourth Premier League title in five years after a dramatic final day
Many major teams have crumpled at fortress Anfield in years gone by but last October, Brighton refused to be one of them.
It looked like a routine win for Liverpool when Jordan Henderson took just four minutes to put Liverpool into the lead. Sadio Mane doubled the advantage only 20 minutes later and Klopp's men were cruising.
But Enock Mwepu pulled a goal back four minutes before half-time to give Brighton hope and after Leandro Trossard equalised in the second half, Graham Potter's men shut up shop and Liverpool had no answers.
It is a result that proved so costly for Liverpool.
Liverpool surrendered a two-goal advantage at home against Brighton back in October
The day the title race looked over. Again Liverpool led 2-0, and again they lost the lead. But away to Chelsea is a different matter than being at home at Brighton.
Mane and Mohamed Salah fired Liverpool into a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge but Thomas Tuchel's men responded via a Mateo Kovacic wondergoal and a Christian Pulisic strike just before half-time.
After the match, Liverpool vice-captain Virgil van Dijk all-but conceded the Premier League title to City with the gap between the two teams extending to 11 points.
'It's a big gap. They've (City) got the title to lose at the moment, but anything can happen still,' Van Dijk said. 'Unfortunately we've been there and we had a gap out in front, and we gave it away.
'Anything is possible. We will focus on ourselves, Chelsea will focus on themselves. We just have to get results. Get results, play good football, win games.'
The Reds blew another two-goal lead away at Chelsea in January and the title looked lost
The impetus was all with Manchester City as they hosted Tuchel's men at the Etihad. It was star man Kevin De Bruyne who made the difference, scoring with a stunning low strike from 25 yards.
It put City 13 points ahead of Chelsea, who at that stage occupied second place in the standings, and 14 ahead of Liverpool who were third, albeit with two games in hand.
Guardiola was thrilled with the victory but was coy over his team's title hopes.
'It's an important victory because we're playing against a big contender,' Guardiola said. 'When you get three points they can't get three points and it's one week less. But in January no one is champion.'
Kevin De Bruyne's stunner against Chelsea put Manchester City 13 points clear in first place
City drew against Southampton shortly after their win over Chelsea and won their other two games, while Liverpool won their ensuing five matches.
It meant that Liverpool needed to defeat a Leeds side in freefall under Marcelo Bielsa to cut the gap down to three points. And Klopp's men were rampant under the floodlights at Anfield, sweeping them aside with an emphatic 6-0 victory.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored twice, with Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk also finding the back of the net.
Klopp was pensive about his side's title hopes in the aftermath, looking to cool the pressure after such a commanding win.
'It is three points (the gap at the top) until the weekend and then City will probably win and then it will be six points,' he said. 'If we win all our games pretty much there will be a chance for us.
'I think for people outside it is better to have a three or six-point gap than to have a 20 or 30-point gap so it is more exciting but we have to win a lot of the games against all the difficult opponents and that will be a tricky task. We will give it a try.'
