Premier League: How Guardiola’s substitutes helped Man City overcome Aston Villa’s stubborn structure to clinch the title – tactical analysis

Bedlam, pandemonium, mayhem. These are just a few different words of the many that can be used to describe the scenes at full-time at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

A ground riddled with anguish and disbelief, as Phillipe Coutinho tucked Aston Villa’s second past Ederson with just twenty minutes to go, uttered a gargantuan sigh of relief when Michael Oliver blew for full-time.

The sixth Premier League title had been secured by Man City, the fourth under Pep Guardiola’s seductive tenure. Emotions were running high. The grief of waving goodbye to the club captain Fernandinho was superseded by the joy of overcoming the colossal hill of being two down with twenty minutes to go to win the Premier League.

City were in dreamland, but it so nearly became a nightmare as Steven Gerrard was just a quarter of an hour away from helping Liverpool to their twentieth league title.

Villa were incredibly prepared from a tactical perspective for this final game and managed to hold off City’s barrage for the guts of 70 minutes. Nevertheless, so often a villain of his own genius, Guardiola made three breathtaking substitutions in the second half, turning the tie on its ugly head.

This article will be a tactical analysis of this title-clinching bout. It will be an analysis of how Gerrard’s tactics stifled City for so long before Guardiola’s substitutes reigned supreme.

Lineups and formations

It certainly shouldn’t surprise anyone that City lined up in their conventional 4-3-3 shape, turning into more of a 2-3-5 in possession. The structure failed to find much joy against West Ham’s sturdy low block in the penultimate game of the season but has worked a treat throughout the campaign for the champions.

Guardiola made just two changes from the team that drew 2-2 at the London Stadium a week prior. John Stones came back into the lineup, being deployed as a right-back, with Joao Cancelo switching to his preferred left-back role.