Greater than Aguero moment?
LONDON: Manchester City won the Premier League title by a point from Liverpool on a thrilling final day on Sunday, prompting comparisons with their dramatic victory in 2012.
Pep Guardiola’s side survived a huge scare and fought back from 2-0 down against Aston Villa, scoring three goals in five second-half minutes -- including two from substitute Ilkay Gundogan -- to seal victory.
City won their first top-flight league title since 1968 in a similar manner in 2012, when Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time winner earned them a 3-2 win over Queens Park Rangers as they pipped Manchester United to the trophy on goal difference.
“In the space of five minutes, City had transformed its despair into something raw and urgent and delirious,” Rory Smith wrote in the New York Times. “It was not quite the same as Aguero’s title-clinching strike 10 years ago, what City’s fans now refer to simply as “93:20,” but nor was it some pale imitation, some ersatz version. It was something close to an equivalent, and that was more than enough.”
Martin Samuel wrote in the Daily Mail that City’s win over Villa might have been more dramatic than Aguero’s goal.
“For 75 minutes they turned in arguably their poorest display of the season, certainly at home,” Samuel wrote. “And then, arguably, the greatest comeback of them all. Greater than that Aguero moment?
“Probably, yes, because the road back was so much harder. Queens Park Rangers were down to 10 men that day, and safe from relegation. They were a poor team, though. Villa, by contrast, are dangerous, certainly on the break.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Jason Burt praised the spectacle of the Premier League. “12 minutes and 22 seconds after it looked over, City had won it and it was bedlam, pure bedlam with players running to all corners of the stadium and Guardiola cavorting uncontrollably,” Burt . “There can be no doubt. This glorious Premier League just keeps on delivering.”
There was also criticism of a pitch invasion following City’s win, which followed a number of similar incidents across English football.
Zinchenko’s support
The Ukrainian flag Oleksandr Zinchenko used to wipe away the tears also inspired City’s Premier League title winner. As Zinchenko paraded around the field with the trophy, the yellow-andblue colours of his homeland were wrapped around him. Then the weeping Ukraine international set the trophy down on the field and draped it in the flag — sending out another powerful message in support of his nation as it fights back against the Russian invasion.
“It’s unforgettable emotions for me, for all the Ukrainians who at the moment are starving,” Zinchenko said. “They are surviving in my country because of Russian aggression. I’m so proud to be Ukrainian, and I would love to one day bring this title to Ukraine, for all Ukrainian people, because they deserve it.”
BARCELONA
SPANISH LEAGUE: 3
SPANISH CUP: 2
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP: 2
BAYERN MUNICH
GERMAN LEAGUE: 3
GERMAN CUP: 2
UEFA SUPER CUP: 1
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP: 1
CUP: 2 (2009, 2011)
League: 2 (2008-09, 2010-11)
MANCHESTER CITY
PREMIER LEAGUE: 4
FA CUP: 1
LEAGUE CUP: 4