Advertisement The 3,400 minutes that preceded it must have, at times, been pure purgatory. Yet for 20 minutes, at the end of this match, the fans of Manchester City could relax, enjoy, party even. They were going to do it. They were going to win. They were going to get the 98 points needed to land the title, in this most astonishing of seasons. Retaining it is never easy. Arsene Wenger could not do it at Arsenal. Don Revie never did it with Leeds. Nor did Bill Shankly at Liverpool. Antonio Conte's Chelsea rewrote the record books, but a repeat was beyond him. And had a soothsayer told Pep Guardiola that 98 points would be the magic number to keep the trophy this season, he would probably have considered that feat beyond him, too. What team can get 198 points across two seasons? The sort of team that can win 14 straight games under quite incredible pressure, perhaps. Vincent Kompany lifts the Premier League trophy in the air for the second season running and for the fourth time in his career Manchester City's players celebrate on the pitch after the final whistle as they were confirmed as Premier League champions Manchester City's striker Sergio Aguero holds the Premier League trophy as City's players celebrate after their 4-1 victory Pep Guardiola celebrates with a member of his coaching staff as City are confirmed as champions again in Brighton Guardiola is thrown in the air by players as they celebrate winning the Premier League on Sunday afternoon at Brighton The Premier League trophy is carried out after the match as they prepare to present it to the Manchester City players Aymeric Laporte headed Manchester City into the lead for the first time on Sunday afternoon on their way to securing the title Ryan was unable to get down and save Laporte's pinpoint header into the bottom corner of his net on Sunday afternoon Riyad Mahrez then bagged City's third from the edge of the area to put them into a comfortable position on the south coast Glenn Murray had opened the scoring at the AMEX Stadium after knocking a corner past Ederson with his head Sergio Aguero equalised very shortly after, sliding the ball past Mat Ryan and into the back of the Brighton goal Guardiola, the City coaching staff and the rest of their team show their delight after Mahrez's fine strike Ilkay Gundogan wheels off in delight as he celebrates his excellent free-kick that confirmed City would be champions again PLAYER RATINGS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE Brighton (4-5-1): Ryan 5; Bruno 6 (Montoya 84), Duffy 5, Dunk 5, Bernardo 5; Knockaert 5, Gross 6.5, Kayal 6, Bissouma 5, Jahanbakhsh 7 (Locadia 67, 5); Murray 7 (Andone 67, 5) Subs not used: Button, Bong, Burn, Molumby Manager: Chris Hughton 6 Man City (4-1-4-1): Ederson 7; Walker 6.5 (Danilo 88), Kompany 8.5 (Otamendi 86), Laporte 8, Zinchenko 7.5; Gundogan 9, B Silva 7.5, Sterling 7, D Silva 7 (De Bruyne 78), Mahrez 8.5; Aguero 8.5 Subs not used: Muric, Stones, Sane, Jesus Manager: Pep Guardiola 8 Referee: Michael Oliver 7 Attendance: 30,662 Ratings by Jack Gaughan Season at a glance Live tables Fixtures Scores Premier League Premier League Championship League One League Two Scottish Premiership Scottish Div 1 Scottish Div 2 Scottish Div 3 Ligue 1 Serie A La Liga Bundesliga Sergio Aguero scored a rapid equaliser against Brighton. See more in Sportsmail's excellent MATCH ZONE service Advertisement That is what Manchester City had to do, in the end. After losing at Newcastle on January 29, we now know City would have to win every remaining league game this season to stay out of Liverpool's reach. Had that been understood as the task on that night, few would have predicted City would be lifting the trophy on May 12. It's not about the money. There are plenty of clubs that have money. Manchester United had more money than their rivals for over a decade until Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea. They did not rack up 100 points in a season; or 98; or even 97. So first, how about Liverpool? We'll get back to City in a minute. How about the team that lost one game all season, achieved the third highest top division points total in the history of English football and, somehow, it still wasn't quite good enough. Manchester City should thank heavens for them, too. Nothing underscores the brilliance of Pep Guardiola's team more than the presence of Liverpool a short neck behind. Liverpool are, without doubt, one of the greatest teams the competition has ever seen. Just one draw for City in these final months – away to Everton, at Manchester United, at home to Tottenham, Arsenal or Chelsea – and Liverpool would have won the league. And all this was achieved with the pressure of knowing that, too. From a long way out, Guardiola has been convinced Liverpool would win their remaining games. He knew City had to, as well. Lesser teams would have cracked, if only once. And once would have been all it needed. Encapsulating this campaign is a battle of superlatives. Liverpool were amazingly good; incredibly, City were even better. The two teams emerge from the tunnel ahead of an important game in the race for the Premier League title The Brighton supporters in the AMEX Stadium pay tribute to their captain Bruno — who is retiring after Sunday's game Guardiola shakes hands with Brighton boss Chris Hughton during a calm moment ahead of kick-off on Sunday afternoon Gaetan Bong wins the ball back from Bernardo Silva after a charge up the pitch from the City midfielder at the AMEX Glenn Murray could only head an effort over the bar after finding a few inches of space in the City box in the first half Brighton's Alireza Jahanbakhsh has a shot at goal from the edge of the area but the effort flew wide of Ederson's post For Guardiola, this was a unique title, too. Since leaving Barcelona he tends to conclude these things in cruise control.<doc-sep>Photo : Shaun Botterill ( Getty ) After the season-long struggle between Manchester City and Liverpool to determine which club would have the slightly more perfect season and be named Premier League champion, it all came down to today, the final matchday of the season. And while it was tight there for a while, City did as expected and beat Brighton & Hove Albion to win their second consecutive league title. Advertisement Man City went to Brighton knowing that a win would seal the title. In the only other match that mattered today—the relegation, Champions League, and Europa League places were for all intents and purposes already locked in after last week’s fixtures—Liverpool hosted Wolves knowing they needed to win and to get some help from Brighton to bring their nearly three-decade title drought to an end. For neutrals most interested in seeing some drama, today got off to a great start. Liverpool got out to an early lead through a Sadio Mané goal in the 17th minute, which ratchete d up the pressure on City: Ten minutes later, Brighton took a shock lead when Glenn Murray scored from a corner in the 27th minute, and it looked like things would get really interesting: Advertisement Liverpool’s dream of their first title since 1990 wouldn’t last too long, though. Just seconds after Brighton took the lead, Sergio Agüero got City level: Advertisement About ten minutes after that, Aymeric Laporte had an open header from a corner and converted it to give City the lead: Advertisement Brighton never really looked like scoring, even when they did score , but with only a one goal lead, City’s title didn’t yet feel secure. Security wouldn’t come until Riyad Mahrez scored the prettiest goal of the match in the 63rd minute to put City ahead by two goals: Advertisement City scored again a few minutes later to really erase all doubt about whether they’d collapse right at the finish line. Liverpool eventually did beat Wolves, 2-0, but it didn’t matter. City’s 4-1 win meant the Citizens won the title for the second year running. This has been the best title race in years, and from a quality and consistency perspective, probably the best one ever. Though only a single point separated the two, City very much deserved to lift the trophy: the Mancs won the head-to-head matchup against Liverpool (the two matches between them finished with a draw and a City win), won 32 games to Liverpool’s 30, scored the most goals in the league, allowed the second fewest by giving up only one goal more than the Pool Boys, and, per Understat’s advanced metrics, had the far better expected goal stats. Advertisement A s happy as we are to see the best team win, though, we would have greatly preferred the “You’ll Never Walk Alone” performance of the ages we would’ve been in for had Liverpool won, since instead we had to sit through another rendition of garbage-ass “Wonderwall” :<doc-sep>In the end there was to be no denying Manchester City, no excruciating stress to endure as Brighton & Hove Albion repelled the barrage whipped up by the visitors on the south coast and no nail-biting finale as City strained for a winner while news filtered through of Liverpool’s ascendancy on distant Merseyside. What tension that existed here had been lanced after a little over an hour. Everything thereafter was a celebration of the champions’ excellence. City know they have been challenged this year, stretched wonderfully by Liverpool’s startling progress. The mind-boggling tally of points collected by Jürgen Klopp’s side would have been enough to claim the championship in all but three of the previous 119 campaigns based on three points for a win and yet it was still not enough to overhaul Pep Guardiola’s team. They have won 198 points across two seasons, a staggering haul. Their 95th top-flight goal of the campaign, a free-kick whipped sumptuously into the top corner by Ilkay Gündogan, summed it all up. Mat Ryan sprang to his left but could not lay a glove on it. Opponents have been trying and failing to do that with City all season. The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email. Not for a decade has a side retained this title but the form mustered in the run-in – 14 successive wins stretching back to a defeat at Newcastle in late January – represented a blistering response to the challenge on their authority being mustered from Anfield. Times had been slightly more trying over recent weeks when Liverpool simply would not let up, with a succession of slender wins keeping the holders marginally ahead, and there would be early pangs of anxiety here against opponents liberated from their fears of relegation. Brighton were more adventurous than normal and Glenn Murray’s header, the striker reaching Pascal Gross’s corner ahead of a flailing Ederson, had represented City’s first deficit in a Premier League match since that defeat at St James’ Park. 02:35 Guardiola calls Man City's Premier League title his 'toughest triumph' – video Perhaps uncertainty would have crept in if that advantage had held a little longer, say to the interval. Maybe City would have wilted as they chased the contest, particularly with confirmation of Sadio Mané’s goal at Anfield having rippled round the arena. In hindsight neither of those seemed remotely plausible. The worst thing Brighton could have done was to provoke them. Where the visitors had initially been laboured in their monopoly of possession, prone to over-elaboration as they ran aground on Albion’s resistance, the shock of shipping that opener shook them awake. Suddenly there was urgency. Instantly there was incision. The hope that flared up on Merseyside was snuffed out in 83 seconds as Aymeric Laporte and David Silva, with a flick Chris Hughton described as “sublime”, sent Sergio Agüero into space within sight of goal. The striker slipped a crisp shot through the on-rushing Ryan and in an instant the champions’ momentum had been restored. “The most important thing was this team went behind but came back immediately,” said Raheem Sterling. “The manager here is all about mentality: it’s about winning no matter what. I’m just happy to be under his wing.” There was an air of inevitability about so much that followed, with Brighton never likely to withstand the onslaught that ensued. Ryan may have done well to deny Bernardo Silva’s diving header but there was pizzazz to City’s passing again and a far more upbeat tempo to their movement. They smothered the life out of their hosts in what remained of the first half, swarming over panicked opponents. Quick Guide Follow Guardian sport on social media Show Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Facebook: like our football and sport pages Instagram: our favourite photos, films and stories YouTube: subscribe to our football and sport channels Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images Europe Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Murray’s poor pass would present the ball to David Silva, with Ryan doing well to deny Riyad Mahrez. Unperturbed, the Algerian swung over the corner and Laporte, having evaded Murray, thumped his header down and in from the edge of the six-yard box. The Frenchman has been a pillar of strength all season. It was fitting he should draw the focus on the league season’s final day. If there was anxiety to endure thereafter, it was mainly born of Guardiola’s pursuit of perfection. Ederson kept out Lewis Dunk’s free-kick but the City manager expected something more resounding than mere narrow success. It was only after Mahrez, on only a fourth league start this calendar year, gathered and tormented Dunk, cutting back inside to leave the centre-half crumpled on the turf, before ripping a glorious right-footed finish into the top corner via a touch off Ryan’s glove that the City manager acknowledged the race had in effect been won. He joined those on the visitors’ bench, from coaching staff to substitutes, in spilling out on to the turf, the goalscorer lost in the mess of joyous bodies. They knew there would be no coming back for either Albion or Liverpool from this. City’s players including Aguero, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Kompany celebrate victory. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian The rest, from Gündogan’s free-kick to Vincent Kompany being granted the ovation he deserves as he departed the fray five minutes from time, was a celebration. This is the Belgian’s fourth Premier League title. “And by far the hardest and most draining,” said the captain, whose winner against Leicester last week ended up feeling like the campaign’s defining moment. “The first one was one in the last minute of the season [with Agüero’s goal back in 2012], but this was constantly knowing you had to win and perform. “We defeated one of the all-time great teams in England, too. But, from the first meeting we had this season it’s all been about trying to get back-to-back titles, and, straight away, I knew we would achieve that.” Kompany and City have an FA Cup final to come next weekend as they attempt to secure an unprecedented domestic treble.<doc-sep>It was a sensational Premier League title race finale, and the Sky Sports pundits gave their reflections on an incredible season for Manchester City and Liverpool. Pep Guardiola's side were one point ahead of Liverpool heading into the final game of the campaign, knowing that a victory at Brighton would be enough for them to lift a second successive Premier League trophy. And in true Man City style, that is exactly what they did, winning 4-1 at the Amex Stadium, with Liverpool also giving title glory their best shot with a 2-0 win against Wolves. It has been one of the most enthralling title races in recent memory - and Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, John Barnes, Jamie Redknapp, and Graeme Souness looked back on the events of the day and the last 10 months as a whole... 'City must keep Pep for five to 10 years' 1:32 Watch the moment Manchester City lifted the Premier League trophy after retaining their title with victory over Brighton Gary Neville: "Winning back-to-back titles is about mentality, and he's [Guardiola] instilled that into that dressing room. He's powerful, strong, and makes his players feel unbeatable. What a coach. How do they keep him for the next five or 10 years? They've got to keep him in Manchester. Whilst he's there, it will be difficult for other clubs to get near them." Graeme Souness: "I think when you go back to when City lost at Newcastle and the momentum was with Liverpool, and then they slipped up and drew too many games, and all of a sudden, the swing changes yet again. But the consistency levels from both teams have been outstanding. "City turned up today, they were fabulous, and that's why they're champions. They can take a punch on the nose and react to that and go on to win the game in style. Make no mistake about it, City are a fantastic team. They play the game the right way, with strength and depth in their squad. City are a team that are going to take some toppling when you look at the strength they've got, and I imagine they'd go again in the transfer window in the summer. 4:06 Pep Guardiola says the reality of retaining the Premier League title is incredible and praised his side for an amazing season "Special teams retain the title. The manager has done very well to keep a fire under them all season from the very first game to the very last. "We talk about the top six but this year, there hasn't been that - there's been the top two and then the rest. There is a country mile between this City team, Liverpool, and the rest. Will it be the same again next season? Man City will strengthen, Liverpool will, so who is going to make that gap? Who is going to make up 15-18 points to join this group?" John Barnes: "It's been a better performance this year from City than last year. Last year, there was no pressure on them, and it's easier to play when there's no pressure. This season, Liverpool played before them three or four times in the last month, and City responded. They went 1-0 down on the final day, and they responded. 2:58 Highlights from Manchester City's win over Brighton in the Premier League "I always felt that City were not good enough under pressure. We saw last year in two games when they lost to Liverpool in the Champions League and when they lost to Manchester United. I thought if you put them under pressure, they could crumble, but they have been under pressure for the last five games, and they haven't. Particularly today when they went 1-0 down. Sensational, congratulations to them." 'Liverpool team the best for 30 years' Jamie Carragher: "This Man City team is something extraordinary. You can understand the Liverpool players and manager will look a bit flat as they want something to show for their efforts. That's why the Champions League final is so important. 2:18 Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp says that this season is the first step for his squad in their journey after they finished second in the Premier League "I have said before that I think this Liverpool team is the best for 30 years, and if that manager wins the European Cup, he will be the best manager they have had in 30 years. This team needs something big to show for what they have done. "Liverpool have a manager who is an optimist and will feel he can challenge again next season, but if City are going to get 96, 98, 100 points, it's very difficult to stop. The only thing Liverpool can look back at with regret is they didn't beat City. You can't expect other people to take points off City if you don't do it yourselves, and Liverpool only took one from six. Next season, they have to look at those games as cup finals and beat them. Easier said than done!" Graeme Souness: "This is a fabulous Liverpool team, and I can't tell you in my lifetime where you have such an outstanding runner-up. I liken it to the World Cup in 1982 and Brazil. They were the best team never to win the World Cup. This Liverpool team is the best team not to win the Premier League. They have been fantastic all the way through. They are a team without a weakness, but they just drew one game too many and that ultimately cost them." 2:56 Highlights from Liverpool's win over Wolves in the Premier League John Barnes: "How can Liverpool complain? 97 points and they lost one game. Yes, we are disappointed, but nobody can tell me that's failure. It has been an incredible season. "When players have been called upon, they have delivered. No matter who played for Liverpool and Manchester City, they still performed and that is because they have given their managers the authority to make any decision.<doc-sep>
First they were Centurions … but now Manchester City should be hailed for the greatest league campaign in English football history. The Blues made it back-to-back titles in slightly nervy fashion as Sergio Aguero and Aymeric Laporte and brilliant strikes from Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan brought them back from the brink at Brighton to win 4-1. And with rivals Liverpool seeing off Wolves at Anfield, they needed all three points to make it two in a row. It was a brilliant end to the season, and possibly a fitting way to bring Vincent Kompany's career to an end. The skipper was subbed near the end, with teammates queuing up to hug him, and the Brighton fans sportingly giving him a standing ovation - while the big man waved to the appreciative travelling support, who sang his song with all their hearts. The points total of 98 was two shy of last season’s record haul, but the way in which City have won this, stringing together 14 straight wins to gradually rein in the Scousers and then holding their nerve as the two teams exchanged three-point blow for three-point blow, sets it apart. To beat a team that lost just once in the entire season is incredible – a show of guts and nerve as well as an exhibition of the supreme quality of Pep Guardiola’s team. And the shrewdness of the coach should not be forgotten in all this. The City supporters were baffled by the inclusion of Mahrez, but he came up with an assist and that superb killer third goal, entirely justifying his first league start in nearly six weeks. City’s previous three title wins were fabulous, but in some ways, they were as much about the opposition as they were very good City teams which won them. United bottled it in 2012, Liverpool slipped up in 2014 and the entire league crumbled under Pep’s pressure last season. But this one saw no let-up. Liverpool, to their credit, kept up the chase right until the very end – and that forced the Blues, as Bernardo Silva said a week, to be better. To win it against a team that clocked up 97 points- the third highest total in the league’s history – and which only lost one game in the entire campaign, is extraordinary. The Centurions season was incredible, but this achievement is even better. In stark contrast to the baking hot day at Southampton which brought last season to a rapturous, 100-point ending, there was a Spring breeze blowing in off the Channel, a chill warning for the Blues that this was still a live contest. And when they found another dry pitch not to their liking, just as they ha at Burnley on another tense day two weeks ago, the sticky surface and Brighton’s stacked defence made it hard. Liverpool fans wondered what motivation the Seagulls might have – but they found plenty. It was the last appearance of club legend Bruno, and the memories of City’s narrow FA Cup semi-final win last month are clearly still raw. Kyle Walker was roundly booed every time he touched the ball, the home fans unhappy that he was not red-carded for rubbing heads with Alireza Jahanbaksh at Wembley. So it was no surprise when the news of Sadio Mane’s goal at Anfield was greeted with cheers from the Brighton fans, who chanted “One-nil to the Liverpool!” just in case no-one in the City camp knew. (Image: Man City via Getty Images) The Blues were simply not breaking a Chris Hughton-organised defence down, and the scales tipped giddily towards Anfield when Glenn Murray rose at the near post to touch in a corner on 27 minutes. The Blues now needed two, and a big dollop of inspiration. Riyad Mahrez’s inclusion had upset the balance, with Raheem Sterling a lost soul in a central role, Mahrez ineffective on the left and Bernardo Silva making no inroads on the right. Pep Guardiola switched it, and the familiarity of Sterling, Aleks Zinchenko and David Silva working openings on the left paid off instantly. Silva touched a through-ball cleverly into Aguero’s path and he lashed a low, hard shot through the legs of Matty Ryan to equalise just 83 seconds after Murray’s goal. Now City had their tails up, and the second goal was always coming.