Nine months, 38 games – and it took just six minutes to decide the Premier League title race

Manchester City are champions again, just as they were a season ago, writes Ben Burrows

The stage was set for a grandstand finish, and Manchester City didn’t disappoint (AFP/Getty)

After nine months and 38 games, it took just six minutes to decide the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are champions again, just as they were a season ago, after a scarcely believable come-from-behind win over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

But they were made to work for it as they were pushed all the way by a relentless Liverpool, triumphing by just a single point on the season’s final day. It was a Reds old boy in Steven Gerrard who nearly handed the crown to his former club with the ex-skipper’s Villa doing the unthinkable and going 2-0 up at the Etihad.

Liverpool needed City to slip up to have any chance and when Philippe Coutinho’s strike found the back of the net just before 5.30pm news filtered back to an expectant Anfield that they just might.