EPL: Pogba leads thrilling Man Utd comeback to keep City waiting for title

Manchester Uniteds French midfielder Paul Pogba celebrates scoring his teams second goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester PicAFPPaul Pogba spoiled Manchester Citys anticipated Premier League title party by scoring twice in two minutes as Manchester United came from 20 down to win a thrilling derby 32 on Saturday Chris Smalling completed the comeback that looked so improbable when City were well on course to round off a resounding march towards the title by racing into a 20 firsthalf lead Goals from captain Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan put the hosts in a commanding position who were left to rue huge missed chances from Raheem Sterling to extend their lead In that level in that competition when you have chances you have to score said City manager Pep GuardiolaThey shot four times on target and scored three goals Guardiola added more spice to an already hotlyanticipated clash when he claimed on Friday he had been offered the chance to buy Pogba two months ago by the players agent Mino Raiola Pogba has endured a desperately disappointing season having often been dropped by Jose Mourinho for Uniteds biggest games But after so much criticism Pogba showed why he was the worlds most expensive player when United splashed out Acircpound89 million to bring him back to the club from Juventus in 2016 by hauling United back into a game that looked lost at halftimeIf the accusation from his agent is that he wants to go to other clubs his price has gone up said Mourinho wryly And Mourinho challenged his side to use their fightback as a springboard to a title challenge next season I want to congratulate City for the title because they are going to win and deservedly They gave no chance to the others because they had this season of dont stop winning added the Portuguese My objective here was to get points and not spoil any celebrations The point is can we improve enough to catch them next seasonCity prioritise Champions LeagueGuardiola kept his prematch promise to prioritise Tuesdays Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Liverpool with City needing to overturn a 30 first leg deficit Kevin de Bruyne a leading candidate for player of the year awards was left on the bench alongside Gabriel Jesus and Citys alltime top goalscorer Sergio Aguero Guardiola and Mourinho have a longrunning rivalry dating back to their time in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectivelyAnd the game quickly settled into the usual pattern when the two face off with City dominating possession and United happy to get plenty of men behind the ball Yet for all Citys possession just like when City won 21 at Old Trafford in December it was from a setpiece that United were undone Citys AbuDhabi owners have splashed an estimated 878 million euros over the past decade to assemble a squad that has tilted the balance of power in Manchester from red to blue Kompany was one the Emiratis first purchases and he was a fitting scorer on what seemed destined to be a historic dayThe Belgian outmuscled Smalling to power home Leroy Sanes corner on 25 minutes Five minutes later City doubled their lead in a style that has characterised their season as Gundogan brilliantly turned onto Sterlings pass before slotting into the far corner City should have been out of sight by halftime as Guardiola screamed in frustration after Sterling fired two glorious chances well over the bar Like the rest of his teammates Pogba was overrun in the first 45 minutes but came alive to slot home from Ander Herreras cushioned pass with his chest to get United back into the game eight minutes after the break That goal was the first Mourinhos men had scored away from home against topfive opposition in the Premier League all seasonAnd they soon had two in two minutes when Alexis Sanchez picked out Pogbas late run into the box and his header beat Ederson low to his righthand side Citys Champions League hopes were likely ended by conceding three times in 19 minutes at Anfield in midweek And United took just 16 minutes to complete an incredible turnaround when Smalling capitalised on some slack City marking to turn home Sanchezs freekick Guardiola threw on Aguero Jesus and De Bruyne in an attempt to prevent just a second league defeat of the season And City should have had a penalty when Ashley Young somehow escaped without punishment from a kneehigh lunge on Aguero inside the area that sparked an badtempered finale Aguero was denied by a brilliant De Gea save two minutes from time and Sterling then hit the post as United somehow held on for a famous winCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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