King Kun leaves with the crown
NEW DELHI: When he appeared on the touchline of his home ground one last time, waiting to be substituted in for a club he has possibly influenced more than any other footballer (dead or alive), Sergio Aguero had a boyish grin on his face. That grin waned as the ball stayed in play for a length of time, so Aguero kept himself busy by indulging in a longish chat with the fourth official. When the ball did not go out of play for even longer, a Manchester City teammate kicked it out and in came Aguero – in the light blue No.10 jersey for one final time in the Premier League, where he had already scored more goals (182, at that point) than any foreigner.
That moment alone in the 65th minute, when Aguero clapped hands with Riyad Mahrez and then clapped towards the stands from the pitch, would’ve been enough for the 10,000 spectators collected at the Etihad on City’s coronation day. But as always, the Argentine would give City’s fans far more than they could expect. A whole lot more: more goals (plural), more records (meaningful ones) and more championships (the only player to win all five with the club).
All that mania unfolded within a matter of minutes against an already defeated Everton on Sunday; but it just as easily could’ve remained furled and not occurred at all. For, Aguero wasn’t manager Pep Guardiola’s go-to man this season. Far from it in fact. First due to a knee surgery and then the rise of other nurseries of power in this incredibly deep City squad. Aguero tangentially referred to his suddenly reduced burden in an interview to Premier League TV a day before the final round. Asked how Guardiola improved him as a striker and he smiled wryly. Then, in Spanish he put words to the smile: “He didn’t. But he improved all the others to make us into a better team.”
Swat away the obvious waft of arrogance from the statement and you may just smell the truth. In Aguero’s absence, and also the absence of Kevin de Bruyne (injury) and Raheem Sterling (form) for large swathes of 2020-21, Guardiola turned to his defence to lead (and set the tone) from the back. And they—Ruben Dias, possibly the signing of the season, who in turn resurrected fellow centre-back John Stones’s career—bloody well did by keeping 19 clean sheets in the league and seven consecutive clean sheets at one stage in the Champions League. But these City defenders also slotted in their share of goals in a system designed for all sorts of false 9s and 10s. To the extent that midfielder Ilkay Guendogan finished the season as City’s leading scorer with 13 goals. He wasn’t the only one: Phil Foden struck 9, as did Mahrez and even Ferran Torres made the most of a rare start this month and smashed home a hattrick, finishing with 7. Aguero, who Aguero?
A legend who ushered his side into a most dominant decade is who. “I don’t want to be remembered for just QPR,” Aguero continued in his Spanish interview to PL TV, a day before the Everton game. When he said this, the 32-year-old had banged in 182 Premier League goals for City, or 7 goals more than the great Thierry Henry. Or, and this is honestly ridiculous, exactly as many as Ruud van Nistelrooy (95) and Dennis Bergkamp (87) put together. But Aguero’s essence, and meaning to the Premier League, could just as easily be boiled down to a single strike from his debut season; it was the last one of his debut season too.
In the 94th minute (or 93:20, for precision) of the final game of the 2011-12 season, Aguero’s goal against Queens Park Rangers handed City their first league title in 44 years. And they won it on goal-difference over their neighbours Manchester United, no less. It is arguably the greatest moment in the history of the league; it is without argument Aguero’s most immortal moment in football. Even the commentary around it has been immortalised, what with commentator Martin Tyler kicking off proceedings on Sunday by repeating his on-air yelps from nearly a decade ago on the Etihad’s public announcement system. “Agueroooooo! Staggering, just staggering! He’s won the league with just 90 seconds stoppage time to play… The blue moon has risen.”
On Sunday, the blue moon was about to rise for a fifth time in Aguero’s English era. But no rising for Aguero himself initially, seated firmly on the bench by Guardiola for the first half. Had he not been brought on in the second half too, Aguero would still have contributed to the title with two goals, but his final contribution in City’s colours would’ve then been a missed penalty. Against Chelsea in the beginning of May, Aguero went ahead with a slow and cheeky dink down the middle from the spot. But so slow, that goalie Edouard Mendy had enough time to truncate his dive midway, turn around and bring the ball to rest with one palm. Aguero didn’t play for Guardiola again.
Until the 65th minute of Sunday, that is. And it took him six minutes to right his wrongs. First, captain Fernandinho stole the ball from Tom Davies on the very edge of Everton’s box and tapped it to the black-gloved Aguero, who hypnotised Mason Holgate such with his stepovers that the defender was facing the other way when the outer edge of the Argentine’s right foot flicked in his first goal of the night. It was also his 183rd PL goal for City in the league, tying him with Wayne Rooney’s single-club haul at Manchester United. But Rooney too would be left trailing in his wake just five minutes later, when another Fernandinho assist – this time a searing cross from the far right – was met by a leaping Aguero’s skull. The rest was a farewell fast finishing like a fairytale.
There were tears of joy in the stands, and later on Guardiola’s cheeks too, who broke down on live TV while talking about the man nicknamed “Kun”. “We love him so much. He’s a…,” said Guardiola to Sky Sports, pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. “He’s a special person for all of us. He’s so nice. He’s so nice… sorry (steps away to wipe his face).” But Guardiola’s real tribute to the departing superstar came when asked about possible replacements (and whispers of Harry Kane being the one to do so are getting louder by the day). To which he simply shook his head and wagged a finger. “No, we cannot replace him. We cannot, we cannot,” he said, his expression sad and dismissive at the same time. “Today he show his quality in 20 minutes. Here, we will always have his legacy.”