Liverpool can only throw away Premier League title after Man City defeat

This will surely go down as the night when Manchester City lost their grip on the Premier League crown.

The night when Newcastle caused one of the biggest upsets of the season and effectively made it Liverpool's title to lose.


The night when it all went horribly wrong for Pep Guardiola in a sloppy, frustrating second half surrender when they blew a lead and crumbled on an incredible night at St James’s Park.

City simply never lose to Newcastle, this was their first defeat in 23 games against the Toon Army and it was without doubt the most damaging result of their season.

City boss Guardiola had warned they might have to win all of their remaining 15 games - and yet they slipped up at the most unlikely hurdle.

Set against a backdrop of fan protest against owner Mike Ashley and Rafa Benitez hinting he could quit, Newcastle was a game you thought City would just have to turn up and win.

But they were never quite at their best. Even after Sergio Aguero put them ahead after just 24 seconds with the fastest goal of the season. They were well below their imperious best.

You could see Guardiola getting increasingly frustrated as he marched up and down the touchline, screaming in frustration in the first half and then losing patience after the break.

In truth, City have rarely reached last season’s record breaking levels this time and Guardiola was anxious to stress as far back as last summer that the true test of greatness is a team being able to defend their title.

City have never done that after any of their three Premier League winning seasons and will surely not now. All they have to focus on is the Champions League which would be some consolation but it would be far from Guardiola’s thoughts right now.

Guardiola is more likely to be angry and frustrated with his players, disappointed with himself and still in despair about how they threw it all away on a freezing cold night in Newcastle.

It seemed as if they were on to a standard victory when Aguero gave them such an early lead. Another win would put them just a point behind Liverpool and put the pressure on Klopp’s men.

City stormed forward straight after the kick off, Raheem Sterling’s cross was deflected off Florian Lejeune, the ball span up and David Silva raced in at the back post to head across goal to Aguero who scored his 17th goal of the season in all competitions.

Aguero should have had a second after 17 minutes but referee Paul Tierney booked Kevin De Bruyne instead for being too quick to take his free kick. That was harsh but De Bruyne was lucky not to get a second booking for a second challenge on Matt Ritchie which did deserve a yellow.

City could have gone further ahead a minute before half time but Lejeune cleared Silva’s header off the line and that proved to be a huge moment in the match.