Pep Guardiola's bizarre 'belongs to Liverpool' comment is factually incorrect
Manchester City took another step towards salvaging its disappointing Premier League campaign as the Etihad Stadium club scored an injury time winner to damage Aston Villa's hopes of Champions League qualification.
City and Villa are among five teams fighting for three spots at Europe's top table next season, with Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Chelsea also eyeing top-five finishes that would be enough to make it into the Champions League next season.
Matheus Nunes' last-gasp strike prompted wild celebrations from a previously enraged Pep Guardiola, who said after the game that City was "not used to" scoring dramatic late winners, declaring that "the last-minute win belongs to Liverpool." It was a strange comment considering City and Liverpool are not exactly in direct competition at this moment in time, and it was made stranger by the fact that it's simply not true.
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Liverpool has won only one game in injury time this season — the 2-0 victory over Brentford when Darwin Nunez emerged as substitute to score twice after the 90-minute mark — while City has in fact enjoyed two injury time winners in the league: the Nunes one against Villa, and a 95th-minute John Stones goal to secure a 2-1 victory over Wolves in October.
Stones also scored a 98th-minute equalizer against Arsenal in September, while Liverpool has not earned any draws through injury time goals. Nunez's goals are the only injury-time goals that Liverpool has scored in the league this season that ultimately changed the final outcome of the match.
Virgil van Dijk's recent winner against West Ham came in the 89th minute, while Diogo Jota scored in the 86th minute to rescue a point against Fulham in December. Meanwhile, both Liverpool and City have dropped points after conceding goals in the 90th minute or later on two occasions this season.
Liverpool shipped a 90th-minute Fabian Schar equalizer to draw 3-3 at Newcastle in December, before James Tarkowski's 98th-minute strike secured a 2-2 draw for Everton in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
City, meanwhile, conceded a 90th-minute Amad goal to lose to Manchester United in December, having only let its lead slip two minutes earlier when Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty. A month later, Christian Norgard completed a Brentford comeback against City, scoring in the 92nd-minute to secure a 2-2 draw for the Bees.
Both City and Liverpool have been involved in their fair share of late drama this season, but it is in fact City that has gained more points from goals scored from the 90-minute mark onwards (City's five to Liverpool's two), while Liverpool has also dropped more points than City from goals conceded from the 90-minute mark onwards (Liverpool's four to City's three).
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