Manchester Evening News

Hero Ferna gets the send-off he truly deserves!

Captain signs off as a champion - for the fourth time

- By SIMON BAJKOWSKI

FERNANDINH­O was the last to trudge down the tunnel at half-time as City tried to process one of their worst 45 minutes of the season that had left them a Liverpool goal away from blowing the title on the final day.

A second or more behind everyone else on the pitch summed up his performanc­e.

Injuries to others had given the 37-year-old the chance of a golden end to what has been a glittering career at the Etihad, and there were no signs of creakiness when he stepped in for Ruben Dias against Newcastle, or in a 5-1 demolition of Wolves.

An injury picked up in that game seemed to have ruled him out of facing West Ham, only to recover like a man half his age.

The problem in East London was that Michail Antonio exposed him for what he is: a veteran midfielder filling in at centre-back.

With Nathan Ake apparently unfit to start for a fifth consecutiv­e game, Pep Guardiola opted to keep the departing skipper as Aymeric Laporte’s partner rather than welcome back John Stones with the England internatio­nal moving in at right-back, Joao Cancelo moving to the left, and Oleksandr Zinchenko benched.

Before the first half was up, Fernandinh­o had struggled so much that there were legitimate questions over whether a player who was being honoured with a celebratio­n on the pitch after the match should be allowed to see his final appearance out with dignity.

It didn’t look like that would be the case when he was hooked at half-time and then Philippe Coutinho put Aston Villa 2-0 up with less than a third of the game to go. However, a man who deserved a better ending a

club he has given everything to, got one.

Just as he has done as club captain over the last two years, even when he cannot help on the pitch he has still spurred his team-mates on and the 37-year-old was one of a handful of players giving out more instructio­ns than Guardiola in the final minutes of the game to see City hang on to their dramatic turnaround.

In that frenzied finish, Fernandinh­o became the club’s most decorated player and his presentati­on after the match became a celebratio­n rather than a commiserat­ion.

And in typical fashion, some of his final words were for the club and its fans.

“To have won this trophy four times in five years really is amazing. Everyone knows the Premier League is the most competitiv­e in world football, but we have shown consistenc­y over a long period,” he said. “That is testament to what City have built.

“I am leaving this summer, but I am very confident City will be successful again in the future.

“This club is fantastic and so are our fans, who have been with us every step of the way.

“Without them by our side, there is no way we can do what we have done these past five seasons.

“We have felt their energy and it has driven us on.”

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 ?? ?? City players honour Fernandinh­o after his final game for the Blues
City players honour Fernandinh­o after his final game for the Blues
 ?? ?? City unveiled a mosaic in honour of Fernandinh­o yesterday*
City unveiled a mosaic in honour of Fernandinh­o yesterday*

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