I spotted the moment Pep Guardiola finally accepted Man City were Premier League history makers

After a day of drinking in the Manchester squares and beer gardens - and a two point lead to calm some nerves - Manchester City fans were in good spirits ahead of kick-off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Over the road at the City Football Academy and then later at the main stadium, Pep Guardiola would not be getting carried away.

With 4pm approaching, the Etihad was full and the stands were starting to sing. At one point, the stadium PA muted the pre-match playlist to allow a spontaneous rendition of Blue Moon to speak for itself. The volume only rose twice again before the game got underway - once for the Hey Jude and the usual rendition of Blue Moon and again for the Premier League anthem to be roundly booed.

The fans were expectant, they had been through the mill on Tuesday at Tottenham, with those three points allowing a confidence that this would not be one of those tense final days we have become accustomed to in these parts. But Guardiola knew differently.

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The manager had penned a passionate rallying cry to supporters in the programme, asking them to bring the noise to help the team on Sunday afternoon. He had spoken multiple times of the 2022 final day comeback against Aston Villa and his expectations that there would be a similar hiccup along the way this year. When captain Kyle Walker was asked about how to avoid that, he joked that City should simply not go two goals down.

The atmosphere was electric come kick-off, with Phil Foden's rocket 78 seconds later heralding a noise and sea of Blue not seen or heard in at least 12 months at the Etihad. Probably more realistically it was the loudest since the 2022 final day comeback against Aston Villa, almost two years to the day. The party had started in the stands.

Foden's second was greeted almost as noisily, with chants of 'Are you watching Arsenal' and 'Champions again, ole, ole' among many songs given an airing as fans allowed themselves to dream without the drama. When news of Everton's goal at Arsenal filtered through, the noise rose again - but the mood swiftly dropped as news of a Gunners leveller came at the same time as Mohammed Kudus' sensational goal back for West Ham.

Here came the hiccup - even with a lead to defend and Arsenal not winning. But the fans, and Guardiola had been here before. Everything can change in a minute. Not again, surely.

Guardiola's team talk will presumably have been to keep things calm, but it took a few minutes for the message to get through. City still had the title firmly in their hands but there were suddenly nerves in the Etihad. 'Come on City' was the cry from the terraces to try and motivate the players, who had lost their zip and confidence from half an hour earlier.

When Rodri ballooned a poor searching ball forward over the head of Josko Gvardiol - up as a centre forward for some reason - Guardiola berated both. Rodri for the pass and Gvardiol for his positioning.

He was happier a few moments later when Rodri found the bottom corner with a replica of his 2022 last-day goal to release all the tension that had been building. This wasn't the uncontrollable celebrations of Foden's first, but sheer relief that the comfort blanket was back.

Not for Guardiola, who allowed himself the shortest moment to celebrate but quickly snapped out of that to single out Gvardiol again as the players walked back into position. He would continue calling for penalties, reacting to chances like they were much costlier, and urging his side on as the full time whistle approached.

The head was in the hands again when Tomas Soucek bundled home two minutes from time. Luckily, there was a clear handball that not ever VAR could get wrong. Five minutes went up. Some fans encroached onto the pitch early, prompting an angry response from the players.

That is why this team are champions, again. With two hands on the title, players and manager were united in their desire to see out the win. To make sure. They took nothing for granted, and if previous titles were won on quality and relentlessness, this was won on resilience and experience.

Only with one minute remaining of the 95, did Guardiola allow himself to turn to his box up in the West Stand and offer a little fist-pump to his family accompanied by a wry smile. At full time, thousands ran towards his technical area, yet he simply walked back up the tunnel.

He's been here before, worn the T-shirt and smoked the cigar. And having led this side to another title you can't rule out he'll be here again next year.

He was still coaching Erling Haaland in the tunnel before coming out to collect his medal. The planning has already begun.