Manchester United deny Manchester City's title win

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Manchester City only needed a victory at home against Manchester United to clinch their third English Premier League title in the last seven years. But the visitors were determined to deny their rivals a celebration, as the Red Devils overcame a 2-0 deficit to claim a stunning 3-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Holding a 16-point edge atop the table going into the latest Manchester Derby, City manager Pep Guardiola kicked off a bizarre firestorm ahead of the match by claiming Mino Raiola, the agent for United striker Paul Pogba and his former teammate Henrikh Mikhtaryan, contacted him in January to offer both players to the EPL leaders.

Mikhtaryan has since transferred to Arsenal - but Pogba would play a pivotal role in this match.

Manchester City grabbed a 2-0 lead after the first 30 minutes with goals by captain Vincent Kompany and German midfielder Ilkay Gündogan. The hosts also missed a chance to pile on against their local rivals when Raheem Sterling blasted the ball over the crossbar in the 36th minute.

Paul Pogba scored two goals in three minutes to spark Manchester United to a 3-2 comeback victory against Manchester City. / VCG Photo

That seemed to give Manchester United confidence that they could climb out of the early hole. Pogba scored twice in two minutes, finding the back of the net in the 53rd and 55th to level the score at 2-2.

The visitors then got what would prove to be the winner from Chris Smalling in the 69th minute, storming all the way back to claim a stunning 3-2 victory, and leave the champagne on ice at the Etihad.

“Sometimes you are losing and the instinct is to change immediately because you don't like anything,” said United manager Jose Mourinho. “I didn't have that feeling, and obviously the first goal is very important, and after that the game was our game. They had obviously the reaction after 3-2, it's normal, but mentally the game was our game.”

City’s second loss of the Premier League season means they must wait a bit longer to lift the English trophy, but the club still lead their rivals by 13 points, 84 to 71 with six matches remaining. Liverpool and Tottenham both have 67 points, followed by defending champions Chelsea with 56, and Arsenal at 51.

“When you have chances, you have to score two or three, said Guardiola. “After you will have bad moments, in the last two games every time they arrive they score a goal. They shoot four times and score three goals, and when this happens it's so complicated. We created enough to score more goals, but congratulations to United.”

This weekend’s Premier League schedule will be rounded out by Arsenal hosting Southampton and Chelsea welcoming West Ham on Sunday evening.