The unassuming and soft-spoken German never displayed the same flashy traits as his fellow superstars, instead quietly going about his business - overlooked by many but always an integral cog in the City winning machine. Haaland may have scored 52 times this season but Gundogan has always been a constant threat. In a tense title race where City had played catch-up for months, Gundogan scored twice against Leeds United as City maintained their advantage at the top of the Premier League in the home stretch last month. He then repeated his heroics with a brace against Everton as they kept Arsenal at bay to win a fourth league title in five seasons. Gundogan then stunned arch-rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup with another double, scoring his first by volleying home 12 seconds into the game.

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Persons: Pep Guardiola, Ilkay, Gundogan, Yaya Toure, Guardiola, Erling Haaland, pip Liverpool, volleying, what's, Rohith Nair, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Manchester City, Germany, Guardiola, City, Leeds United, Premier League, Everton, Arsenal, Manchester United, League, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Istanbul, City, Bengaluru