Man City batter Brighton to retain Premier League title
Brighton, May 12: Manchester City held off a titanic challenge from Liverpool to become the first side in a decade to retain the Premier League title by coming from behind to beat Brighton 4-1 on Sunday.
A 14th straight league win ensured Pep Guardiola's men pipped Liverpool by a solitary point as the Reds' long wait to win the league continued despite a 2-0 victory over Wolves at Anfield that saw them post the third highest points tally in Premier League history.
City remain on course to complete the first ever domestic treble in English football in the FA Cup final next weekend as goals from Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan saw the visitors recover from Glenn Murray's shock opener.
For 83 seconds Liverpool fans were able to dream, but City showed why they are champions and have racked up a remarkable 98 points, just two shy of their record century of points last season.
Liverpool applied as much pressure as they could with their own nine-game winning run to end the season and went in front early against Wolves to raise the tension inside the Amex Stadium.
City had not conceded in their previous four games, but Brighton were playing on their nerves as they sought revenge for defeat in their FA Cup semi-final last month.
Ali Jahanbakhsh flashed a shot just wide of Ederson's right-hand post before the moment that was celebrated as wildly 270 miles north at Anfield as it was on the south coast.
Pascal Gross's dangerous in-swinging corner was powered home by veteran striker Murray at the near post on 27 minutes.
This was the first time City had failed to score first in a league game since early December and the first time they had trailed at all in the 14-game winning run that has carried them to the title.
However, Brighton's lead and Liverpool's hope lasted just over a minute.
Aguero leads City recovery
Aguero scored the sensational last-gasp goal that ended City's own 44-year wait for the title in 2011/12 and his goals have been a constant of their now four Premier League triumphs in eight seasons.
David Silva's wonderful flick freed the Argentine in behind the Brighton defence and Aguero made no mistake with a powerful low finish.
The brief shock of going behind sparked City into life as Mathew Ryan was then forced into saves at his near post from Bernardo Silva and Mahrez.
However, Brighton were undone from a simple set-piece when Mahrez's corner found Laporte completely unmarked to head City in front seven minutes before half-time.
The champions still had nervy moments to see through as Ederson only just scrambled Lewis Dunk's dipping free-kick over the bar with the last action of the first half.
And the Brazilian goalkeeper was lucky not to concede a free-kick yards from the City goal line when he collected a back pass from Laporte.
Yet, 27 minutes from time they had the breathing space they desired in a moment of magic and redemption for Mahrez.
The Algerian has failed to make a big impact in his first season since joining for a club record Euro 60 million from Leicester.
Until now his most noteworthy moment was a late missed penalty in a 0-0 draw at Anfield in October that could easily have cost City the title.
Instead, he scored the goal to ensure Liverpool were denied at the end of a remarkable title tussle by cutting inside Dunk before firing into the top corner on his weaker right foot.
Nine minutes later Gundogan added the icing on the champions' cake with a glorious free-kick from 25 yards.
Sergio Aguero goal bs Brighton??@premierleague @ManCity @OfficialBHAFC pic.twitter.com/mxKkOFToYX
— One Spot FoOtBaLL (@OneSpotFoOtBaL1) May 12, 2019
@Laporte THE BEST ? pic.twitter.com/0pPGqigHed
— CHAMPION 2018-2019 ????????? (@FredBlueMoon10) May 12, 2019
Riyad Mahrez goal vs Brighton ?????@premierleague @ManCity @OfficialBHAFC pic.twitter.com/ENF7ubM9Y7
— One Spot FoOtBaLL (@OneSpotFoOtBaL1) May 12, 2019
llkay Gundogan free kick goal vs Brighton???@premierleague @ManCity @OfficialBHAFC pic.twitter.com/Mkg14LqYTm
— One Spot FoOtBaLL (@OneSpotFoOtBaL1) May 12, 2019
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
