Guardiola jokes that he lost 2-0 “was the plan” at the Manchester City title parade | Manchester City

Pep Guardiola joked that it was all part of his plan Manchester City should lag behind Aston Villa 2-0 as his team celebrated its fourth Premier League title in five years with a parade in the city center on Monday.

The day after City added another incredible comeback story to their story, scoring three goals in six minutes defeated Villa 3-2 and ahead of Liverpool by one point, City shared a moment with thousands of fans along Dinsgate. Guardiola then appeared on stage, puffing on his regular cigar to thank the fans.

“It was a plan, 0-2, calm down, calm down,” Guardiola said with a laugh. “And after we killed, it was a great night. Everyone knows that an incredible achievement has taken place. This is the toughest league, in the six years since we arrived, we have had four. Happiness on all faces is the greatest reward we can receive. ”

After Ilkay Gundogan scored two late goals from both sides of Rodri’s goal to win the City, Guardiola was in tears all the time as he celebrated with his behind-the-scenes staff.

“It was definitely a tough moment,” he said. “Players always show up again, it was incredible to come back. The last month after that there was a lot of tension [the Champions League defeat against Real Madrid] and many challenging games. We never give up and we should be so proud of the band. ”

Three open-top buses with City players and staff, some of which looked worse worn after a night of celebrations, took a short route from the National Football Museum to the far end of Dinsgate.

Ederson sprayed champagne on more than one of the fans clinging to the lampposts, and Jack Grillish offered to buy everyone on the side of the road a portion if they wanted to meet him in town later.

Reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson joked that City’s main problem when they fell behind on Sunday was that John Stones replaced the right-back after returning from injury. “It would have been better for them if I had been a right-back,” the 36-year-old said.

Grilish was even tougher in his demotion of Bernardo Silva, who was replaced by Gundogan on Sunday. “I already said about the coach that winning his first title was brilliant,” said Grilish. “I want to thank everyone, but the main person I want to thank is Bernardo Silva for coming out in the 70th minute because he was miles away yesterday.”

Kevin De Brain was far from alone in sports sunglasses, admitting he was “a little drunk”. The Belgian was named club player of the year amid the festivities, but on Sunday did not meet his usual high standards before scoring Gundagan’s winning goal.

Asked if he thought it all ended at 2-0, De Brain said: “About 10 seconds. Then we just went and did it. I would say we did it urban. It’s very nice now. ” The event was also a farewell party for club captain Fernandinho, who will return to his native Brazil this summer after nine years and 12 trophies at the club.

“When I first came here and met someone from the City, they said, ‘Listen, we want you to be one of the leaders, we want you to be the champion,'” the 37-year-old midfielder said. “When I look back, all the titles we’ve won are really special.”