Man City clinches 6th Premier League title in 11 seasons
Manchester(AP): Manchester City clinched a sixth Premier League title in 11 seasons on Sunday by scoring three times in five minutes to come from behind to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in the finale to avoid being toppled by challenger Liverpool.
City was trailing 2-0 to Villa until Ilkay G ndogan began the comeback in the 76th. Rodri equalized two minutes later and G ndogan put City in front in the 81st.
At one point even when City was losing, it was still set to defend the title as Liverpool was only drawing 1-1 to Wolverhampton. But Mohamed Salah then put the second-place side in front in the 84th minute, which would have taken Liverpool into first place had City not mounted its fightback at the Etihad Stadium. Andy Robertson then sealed Liverpool's 3-1 win.
Had City conceded a late equalizer, Liverpool would have snatched the trophy away but Pep Guardiola's side held on for the win in a thrilling climax.
Pep Guardiola's defense of the trophy was secured on the final day in a more jittery way than expected when City briefly had a 14-point lead in January.
City's fourth championship success in five seasons produced a first for Guardiola. It's the first time City has sealed the title in front of its own fans who spilled onto the field in their thousands at the final whistle against Villa.
Although it went down to the wire, this one came without any of the anguish of 10 years ago when City's first Premier League title was only clinched in the final minutes of the season.
That success, which produced City's first championship crown in 44 years with Roberto Mancini as manager ushered in the era of dominance enjoyed by a club transformed by the influx of investment from Abu Dhabi.
City is now enjoying the steady stream of titles it once had to watch crosstown rival United sweep up under Alex Ferguson. The rise of City has coincided with the retirement of the Scot who won the Premier League 13 times from 1993 to 2013 and the decline of Manchester United.
The teams entered the final round on Sunday with City 32 points ahead of United and with Liverpool the greater threat to Guardiola's side. In the last five seasons, the only time City didn't win the trophy was when Liverpool's 30-year title drought ended in 2020.
But it will be another season ending with City unable to win the biggest prize in European football the Champions League while Liverpool will be contesting the final against Real Madrid on May 28.
While Liverpool's net spending on transfers has been around USD 250 million in the last five years, City's has been more than USD 530 million.
City's financial might wasn't enough to convince Tottenham to sell Harry Kane ahead of this season, leaving Guardiola to achieve this title without a recognizable striker. Yet, City was able to break the British transfer record to sign Jack Grealish for 100 million pounds (USD 139 million) even though the midfielder only started sparingly.
City has already reinforced its attack for next season, with a deal clinched with Borussia Dortmund to sign Erling Haaland for 60 million euros (USD 63 million), adding one of Europe's most exciting young forwards into the squad.
Still, concerns remain for human rights activists and less wealthy rivals about the club's Abu Dhabi ownership and its actions.
Human rights violations by the United Arab Emirates are glossed over by City fans who largely overlook how their club has been used by a state as a tool of soft power that exploits the glamor of the world's biggest sport to cleanse its image.
City owner Sheikh Mansour has only been seen at one game during his 14 years as owner. Mansour, who is deputy prime minister of the UAE, was condemned by the British government for recently hosting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
City was fined EURO 10 million (USD 12 million) in 2020 for obstructing a UEFA investigation into its finances following leaks of internal correspondence at the club.
But the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a two-year Champions League ban because claims that the club disguised the source of income as overvalued sponsorships from companies linked to its Abu Dhabi ownership were either rejected or found to have happened too long ago to be investigated. AP
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Unruly scenes witnessed in Punjab Assembly
Chandigarh (PTI): The Punjab Assembly on Friday witnessed high drama on Friday after Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira made an allegedly objectionable remark against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann during an intense argument over the alleged use of mobile phone in the house by the legislator.
During the one-day special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha here, Mann accused Khaira of using a mobile phone when Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan was reading out an official resolution on the revision of wages.
After rising from his seat, the chief minister pointed to the speaker, claiming that Khaira is busy on his mobile phone and urged him to ask the Congress MLA what Sandhwan had said about the resolution.
The speaker then asked Khaira to maintain order in the house and listen to the resolution carefully.
Mann then asked Khaira, "Why don't you go out and then use it (mobile phone)," which led to a strong verbal altercation during which the opposition MLA hurled an accusation against the chief minister. Meanwhile, the speaker appealed for order and insisted that the chair be addressed.
However, both Mann and Khaira continued arguing and could be seen pointing fingers at each other as the proceedings of the house were disrupted.
The AAP MLAs also rose from their seats with Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema condemning Khaira for his conduct and demanded action against him.
Cheema further alleged that Khaira "always tries to disturb the house" as he spoke about his conduct in the assembly.
The incident occurred as an official resolution on the revision of wages was presented at the special session by Labour Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond who said it paid homage to labourers on the International Workers' Day.
"Workers are the axis of construction of the nation, the community, the state and society. Every construction project succeeds only through their blood and sweat," the resolution read.
As per the resolution, "The base rate of minimum wages for the working class in Punjab was last revised in the year 2012. Although the dearness allowance has continued to increase since 2012, there has been no increase in the base rate of minimum wages.
On this sacred occasion of May Day, in this special session of the legislative assembly, this house proposes to revise and increase the minimum wages of labourers and strongly recommends to the government to take a decision regarding the increase of minimum wages for workers, so that the contributions of the workers can be acknowledged." PRK
