Yes, Guardiola’s side still needed to score again to secure the victory they required to finally keep Liverpool at bay – but there was a sense of the inevitable once Aguero proved once more he is Manchester City’s man for all occasions.
Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan delivered the final blows in a title battle with Liverpool that has turned into a season-long face-off between two teams – and two managers in Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp – of the highest calibre.
It was a tightrope walk for less than two minutes but City kept their balance and eventually strolled imperiously to the three points that continues their domestic supremacy.
Manchester City can now add the Premier League to the League Cup. The prospect of an unprecedented domestic treble is on the table when they face Watford in the FA Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday, 18 May.
The Premier League table tells the story and for all Liverpool’s brilliance they came up against a team that proved to be one point better than them.
It was a suitably miniscule measure of victory after a campaign settled on the finest margins, from the 11.7mm separating John Stones from an own goal against Klopp’s side in January to the 29.51mm that ensured Aguero scored the winning goal at Burnley to put City back on top with two games left.
Manchester City went into the history books by racking up 100 points to win the title last season, but when the celebrations died down and they made their way back north to Etihad Stadium for their title celebration on Sunday night this may have proved to be an even sweeter, more satisfying triumph.
The statistics build a monument to Manchester City’s brilliance over these two stellar, title-winning seasons.
In the last two campaigns they have amassed 198 points, scoring 201 goals. This was their 14th straight victory and their 32nd this season, equalling their own record set last season.
City were the first since Manchester United a decade ago to retain their crown and they did it without the comfort blanket they made for themselves last season. This was a dogfight as Liverpool and Klopp tracked them every inch of the way only to end the smallest step behind.
