Though Manchester City clinched the 2017-18 Premier League title on Sunday, thanks to Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion, Pep Guardiola’s squad still strives to reach the 100-point mark before season’s end.
[ MORE: PST’s latest coverage of Man City’s title win ]
While their quest to be dubbed the best PL side of all time will continue next weekend, we stop to appreciate and relive the top 10 moments of their title-winning season (so far)…
10. 96' vs. Bournemouth — Aug. 26 — Sterling’s late winner — Raheem Sterling scoring late, game-winning goals (all in the 84th minute or later) would become a recurring theme of the first half of the season.
9. 84' vs. Huddersfield — Nov. 26 — Sterling does it again
8. 95' vs. Southampton — Nov. 29 — Sterling, again… again
[ MORE: Ranking the impact of each City player this season ]
7. 16-0 in back-to-back-to-back weeks — Sept. 9-Sept.23 — An unstoppable force — Liverpool (more on that game a little later), Watford and Crystal Palace were on the wrong end of City’s most dominant, ruthless run of a the season: a three-game stretch which saw them soar by a combined score of 16-0 (it would then be extended to 24-2 over the three ensuing games, thanks in large part to a 7-2 thrashing of Stoke City three weeks later).
6. Newcastle United 0-1 Man City — Dec. 27 — 18 straight wins — City’s PL-record 18-game winning streak began on Aug. 26 and didn’t end until New Year’s Eve (a span of 127 day before points dropped). The unbeaten start would go on another two weeks before ending at 22 games with a thrilling defeat away to Liverpool two weeks into the new year.
[ MORE: Twitter reacts to City winning Premier League title ]
5. Chelsea 0-1 Man City — Sept. 30 — Title credentials established — Ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge, City entered the weekend top of the table but level on points with Man United and only three ahead of their Week 7 foes, Chelsea. The overall performance was utterly dominant (17 shots to 4; 6 on target to 2), but the result remained in doubt for more than an hour, until Kevin De Bruyne bagged the game’s only goal, a fantastic solo effort, in the 67 minute.
4. Tottenham 1-3 Man City — April 14 — The final win — In total control from the first to final whistles, City breezed past Tottenham to move to within three points of the title.
3. Man United 1-2 Man City — Dec. 10 — Derby delight at Old Trafford — Winning away in the Manchester derby would have been the defining moment of City’s season in years and decades gone by. Now, it’s little more than a footnote in a throughly brilliant season.
[ MORE: Mourinho reacts to United’s loss, City’s title win ]
2. Man United 0-1 West Brom — April 15 — Friendly neighbors — A day after beating Tottenham, and a week after blowing a 2-0 lead against their neighbors in red (for just their second loss of the season), all Man United need was a point against last-place and all-but-relegated West Bromwich Albion, but Jose Mourinho’s men fell flat on their face. Thus, City were officially champions.
1. Man City 5-0 Liverpool — Sept. 9 — Destruction of the Reds — Liverpool looked like genuine title contenders through their first three games (the trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino had just combined to thrash Arsenal to the tune of 4-0 one game earlier, and Philippe Coutinho was yet to even make his 2017-18 debut), but the Reds’ trip to the Etihad Stadium brought about an entirely different reality: City were of another universe entirely. They did it against 10 men following Mane’s early sending-off for a boot to the face of Ederson, but they were never more ruthless than that day in early September.