Ilkay Gundogan thinks his anger at being benched for the Premier League finale fuelled his title-winning performance against Aston Villa.
The Manchester City midfielder had watched their 2-2 draw the previous week as a substitute, so was taken aback when he found out he was not back in the starting XI for the final game of the season, with Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne preferred in midfield instead. For the second week running, the 31-year-old had been left out of a game where the title was on the line.
A sluggish City were 1-0 down by the time G undogan were introduced in the 68th minute and seconds later Philippe Coutinho doubled Villa’s lead. Remarkably, Pep Guardiola’s side still topped the table but knew that one goal from Liverpool at Anfield against Wolves would leave them needing to score three.
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Gundogan scored City’s first in the 76th minute and their third — after Rodri’s equaliser — in the 81st minute. And a remarkable comeback may never have happened if Guardiola’s first signing at the Etihad had not channelled his anger in the right way to help his team.
“To be honest the day didn't start that well because I was highly expecting to start and I didn't,” he said, speaking at the premiere of City's latest documentary ‘Together: Champions Again!’ “We are all competitive, we all want to play and I remember the week before I hadn't started the West Ham game so I was quite confident in starting and then the moment I found out I wasn't starting I was a bit frustrated and angry.
“But I still tried to be focused and support the guys that were starting and maybe even try to put the anger into a game a little bit. Things didn't start so well also for me after I subbed on because i was on for 10 seconds and we conceded the second goal so it was 0-2.
“Then, the hope was not huge any more but as a professional football player you always try to do your best. you do the simple thing - try to score the first as quickly as possible. Luckily it happened and then the 10 minutes where we scored the three goals everything was so quick it was very difficult for me to think about it or analyse it because I feel like it's impossible.”
Weekly episodes of ‘Together: Champions Again!’ are available on City+ and Manchester City’s Recast Channel for fans to enjoy.
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