It means the world to me to score a goal...
VINCENT Kompany has revealed the ‘pure emotion’ of his Wembley strike.
The City captain scored the Blues’ second in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday to help claim a first English trophy for manager Pep Guardiola.
The big Belgian’s exuberant celebration of his goal – and of City’s win after the final whistle – were among the defining images of the final.
And Kompany admits it was up there with his derby winner against United on the way to City’s 2012 Premier League title win.
“It means the world to me,” he said. “I don’t plan the celebrations, as you can see. It’s just pure emotion. What you can see is what I feel. It’s hard to put a ranking on them.
“Scoring against United, it’s always going to be difficult to top that one. But this is up there.
“It was necessary as well. Having chances and pressure, if you don’t score the second goal sometimes you can lose the game. That second goal gave us the comfort to carry on and build from there.”
Kompany has seen his career threatened by fitness issues in recent years with his recovery from 41 separate injuries one of the most quoted stats of Sunday’s success.
But the centre-back says his travails played no part in his emotional response to his goal and the victory.
“No. It’s not just about how I see it for myself,” he added. “It’s about what I want to achieve for the club, with my team-mates. It’s a journey we’ve all been on and this is one trophy. I want us to go another journey and get another trophy. And that’s all it is really.
“I’m living every moment like it was my last, like it was my first.
“I am enjoying being part of this team, and what you see is what I feel. It’s not the kind of celebration that will get me on the Panini stickers, is it?
“It’s not premeditated, but I hope until the last minute of my football career I can enjoy it like I did.”
With the Premier League title all-but won, Kompany is focused on adding a first Champions League title for the club to the Carabao Cup success.
Of City chances in Europe, he said: “There is belief but we are not favourites above the big ones, Madrid, Barcelona. We’re just trying to fight our way in there and maybe shake things up a little bit.
“But one thing at a time. We have to play Basel first. It’s too early to call it. Y
“You’ve seen PSG is a great team but they’ve gone to Madrid and you know what happened there. So we have to be careful, saying too much.”