Manchester City ended their season with a comfortable home win against Southampton. Manuel Pellegrini’s men won 2-0, with goals from Frank Lampard and Sergio Aguero enough to see off the Saints.
Yet a sixth straight win in their final six league games was not even enough to get The Sky Blues close to eventual Champions Chelsea.
Having already been guaranteed second place prior to kick-off, City went into this with nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Yet, Pellegrini started with a strong line-up in the starting XI as well as a strong bench. Southampton on the other hand, had they won, would have finished in sixth position ahead of Liverpool.
Aguero scores again
Sergio Aguero made no doubt about who was going to end the season as the Golden boot winner. Even with Harry Kane and Diego Costa netting in their respective matches, Aguero was still well ahead of them. He scored City’s second to take his tally to a very impressive 26 league goals for the campaign, a personal best for the Argentine. It is safe to say that although a major achievement, Aguero would have strongly hoped for a league winner’s medal to go with it.
Lampard ends on a high
Just when you thought Frank Lampard’s illustrious career in English football could not get any better, he manages to prove you wrong. The ex-Chelsea superstar enjoyed a fairly decent season with the Sky Blues, managing six goals in the league, one more than he scored in final year in London, last season. Lampard put away his 177th English league goal of his career and proved why he is considered as one of England’s best midfielders. The 36-year-old scored in typical fashion inside the box, to open the scoring and end his wonderful career in English football on a high note. He now heads to the American MLS team New York City F.C to start a new chapter.
City exodus highly likely
It has become quite evident over the past few weeks that City will look to offload a number of players in the summer transfer window. The likes of Edin Dzeko, Samir Nasri and Stevan Jovetic have barely featured since March, prompting their evident exit. While James Milner, Aleksandar Kolarov and Yaya Toure have enjoyed good form towards the end of the season, they are also highly likely to be exiting the Etihad. Some of the City players that were loaned
out, such as Alvaro Negredo and Scott Sinclair are also seem likely to exit the club. It will prove to be an important and busy transfer market for City as they will look to re-build and improve for next season.
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Southampton bite nails waiting on Europe news
The Saints missed out on a guaranteed opportunity to play in Europe next season. Had the saints beaten City they would have finished in sixth position, as Liverpool had also lost to Stoke City on the same day. An automatic Europa league finish would have capped off a brilliant season for Ronald Koeman and his team, who were even occupying second position in the league for a while. Southampton can only look now to the FA Cup final, as an Arsenal win will mean St. Mary’s will host European football next season.
A wonderful season to watch, with some amazing football been played over the 38 weeks. City will be dejected not to retain their title, but Pellegrini will already be focussing on achieving success come next season.
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