I ALWAYS FEEL I CAN DELIVER IN THOSE BIG MOMENTS
Kompany on what spurred wonder goal
ONE by one they came up to hug Vincent Kompany and thank him for pulling Manchester City’s title challenge out of the fire.
Then the City players stood back and let their captain lead them on a lap of honour. Has it ever been more deserved?
Kompany walked ahead with that confident strut and wrapped his arms around the shoulders of proud daughter Sienna, eight. Then the tears began to flow.
His has been a fairytale City career. The man signed before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, albeit by a matter of days, who ended up captaining the club to three Premier League titles.
If a fourth is to follow at Brighton on Sunday afternoon, they will look back at the moment Kompany broke Liverpool’s hearts and talk about it in the same breath as Sergio Aguero’s titleclincher against QPR in 2012.
Aguero was only saying what everyone else was thinking when the Belgian strode forward with the ball and took aim after 70 minutes.
City’s title challenge was wobbling and the anxiety inside the Etihad was palpable. Kompany had decided to take matters into his own hands.
‘ Don’t shoot, Vinnie, don’t shoot,’ shouted Aguero.
Kompany didn’t listen. His shot, swerving and gathering pace in mid-air, screamed into Kasper Schmeichel’s net and the City fans screamed with it.
He was just about the last person on the pitch they expected to try his luck from that distance.
Kompany had never scored from outside the box before.
What a moment to score his first goal — and City’s 100th at home — this season. As disbelief turned to delirium, the Belgian careered towards the corner flag and threw himself to the turf before he was engulfed by team-mates.
It was reminiscent of his wild celebration after heading the winner in the Manchester derby here seven years ago on another must-win Monday night.
When City played West Ham on the last day of the 2014 season needing a point to become champions, Kompany came up with another huge goal.
He only scored two last season but they came in the League Cup final against Arsenal and the Manchester derby. ‘I didn’t score this season but for me I always feel in big moments I’m going to do something,’ he said afterwards. ‘Things sometimes are meant to happen. I’ve had other seasons when I didn’t score too much and I just happened to score at the right time.’
In theory, this could be Kompany’s last game at the Etihad aside from his testimonial. The fact that that game is scheduled for September suggests he will accept the club’s offer of a new contract.
For now, it remains unsigned. Kompany may have overcome the succession of muscle injuries that threatened his career, but he wants to be sure that he will play enough first- team football to commit to a 12th season here.
This was his third Premier League start in a row but only his 12th of the season in total.
One thing is for sure, Kompany has no intention of retiring at the age of 33. ‘Absolutely not. I’m going to play football,’ he said. ‘I’m going to do exactly what I’ve done today for as long as I can.
‘I play every game as if it’s the last game of my career. It takes a lot of hard work. Every game is potentially the last one. I don’t know at this point.’
Kompany’s goal was the ultimate justification for Guardiola’s decision to pick him ahead of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi, even though Jamie Vardy’s pace must have been a concern. He produced a stunning block to deny Ricardo Pereira early on and was still standing strong deep into injury-time to clear Pereira’s booming freekick into the City box.
They love him here at the Etihad. He is their captain and hero. Even if he wanted to leave, it is unlikely they would let him.