PEP’S LEFT
Man City ......... 2 Man United ......... 3
WHAT kind of neighbours have the nerve to gatecrash your title-celebrating party and turn your beer flat?
Manchester United, of course. Who else but the team from the other side of the city who revelled in the fact they could wreck the celebrations against all the odds?
Two goals behind and looking out of the game with City coasting towards the title which has been in their hands all season.
But then Paul Pogba raised his own glass with a double – and the City champers stayed on ice.
And that is a crushing blow for Pep Guardiola and his men as they suffered only their second Premier League defeat of the season.
A pity, too, that the three wise men of City – captain Vincent Kompany, Merlin himself David Silva and record-busting goalscorer Sergio Aguero – could not bear the gifts their talents deserved with 25 years of devoted service to The Etihad cause between them.
Shedding every last drop of sweat in the historic drive to make City the greatest football team on the planet with Kompany itching to get his hands once more on the coveted Premier League trophy.
That would be the third title in seven years and the fifth in City’s history when it is wrapped up at a later date after United’s heroics on a day the faithful muttered had taken them back to the cock-up past.
It had all looked so comfortable in a one-way opening 45 minutes as Kompany and Silva started even though rumours had swept the stadium that both would be rested.
Not even boss Guardiola could hold back that dynamic Blue duo and tell them to put their feet up after the sapping defeat in the Champions League at Liverpool in midweek.
Aguero was in the dugout probably reflecting on his seven magnificent years as City’s 199-goal king – a feat he could not possibly have envisaged when he made his two-strike debut against Swansea in 2011.
Did he imagine that he would forever etch his famous name into club history? The answer was typical Aguero.
He said: “I couldn’t have imagined it when I first arrived but it feels wonderful. Especially because I know what it means for City’s supporters.
“My goals allowed the team to grow and give sustainability to the project. But those goals are not the whole story – it was a team effort with every one of those players who have come and gone through the years.
“It makes me proud that I have played a part in making City what it is today and to be part of such an historical moment for the club. It feels fantastic.” Rare words from the Argentine legend who will forever stand shoulder to shoulder with Kompany and Silva in the great City hall of heroes.
Blue blood courses through all their veins. Proud Cityzens with Kompany the cornerstone of the club’s meteoric rise to be kings of England again – when that date finally dawns.
Kompany lives and breathes City. He has even promised that he’ll never leave them as a joyful memory. He would even cut the grass at The Etihad such is his loyalty to the club and supporters who took him to their hearts from day one.
The big Belgian walked tall leading his troops out of the tunnel into a banner-strewn stadium spelling out loud and clear, “We Are City”. The start of another battle against the old enemy.
And he was soon in the thick of it with two blockbusting headers as he commanded his centre-back role like the giant of a man he is.
There was one error when his pass across goal fell into enemy territory but in the 25th minute Kompany got off to the dream start he craved.
His powerful header arrowed to the top of the net with keeper David de Gea flapping thin air with another banner flying high to celebrate his opener proclaiming, “Born Belgian – Pure Manc”.
Endless choruses of Blue Moon rang out after Ilkay Gundogan put City two-up with a wonderful turn and drive into the bottom corner past a bewildered De Gea.
This was what the fans had prayed for after the collapse to the Liverpool juggernaut when they played as they did at a manic Anfield.
United had no answer with Silva weaving his magic. His golden left boot delivering defence-splitting passes which left the Red Devil rearguard totally bamboozled.
City could have notched five goals on their gunslinger belts in the first half with the second following the same storyline.
How they cursed those misses when Pogba shredded the nerves with his twogoal blast and
Chris Smalling broke Blue hearts with a stunning strike.
The party then was well and truly over.