Manchester City have been made to wait for their Premier League coronation twice this weekend.
First, they were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea – their May 29th Champions League final opponents – on Saturday and then Manchester United denied them with a comeback win over Aston Villa on Sunday.
Defeat for United would have seen their neighbours crowned, but they were made to wait after being unable to finish the job themselves on Saturday.
Raheem Sterling looked to have got the party started for coach Pep Guardiola and the club when he smashed home a left-footed drive in the 44th minute at the Etihad Stadium. But Sergio Aguero failed to double the lead in injury time when he hit his Panenka penalty straight at Eduoard Mendy.
The Blues punished them when Hakim Ziyech smashed one home from the edge of the area, before Marcos Alonso snatched all three points in added time when he guided home a Timo Werner cross.
It means City will have to wait until Friday against Newcastle for another shot.
And Guardiola says: “We are sad because we lose – we wanted to close the Premier League today – but we have to be focused.
“Football is unpredictable and we have to focus on the game at Newcastle.
“Now we have six days, more than ever in this season. We will rest and then prepare for our final at Newcastle.”
Aguero apologised for his penalty miss, which Guardiola admits could have been decisive
The club’s all-time top goalscorer posted a message of social media, saying: “I would like to apologise to my teammates, staff and fans for missing the penalty. It was a bad decision and I take full responsibility.”
Guardiola adds: “If he scores you would say he is a genius.
“I say to the players to take one decision. Panenka, right, left.