JESUS WILL ALWAYS BE FANS’ FAVOURITE WITH CENTURIONS MOMENT
WITH just one swing of his right boot, Gabriel Jesus engrained himself in City folklore forever - Centurions. The Blues had been crowned Premier League champions long before, but Pep Guardiola’s relentless pursuit of perfection kept his team pushing for virtually every record.
Most away points, biggest points gap to second, most wins, most away wins, most goals, best goal difference and most consecutive victories had all already fallen, but the points tally was certainly the most important. Hitting 100 would solidify their place as one of the Premier League greats.
It was strange to see such a freescoring Blues struggle to create virtually any chances against a relatively poor Southampton side on that day in May 2018, but you felt it was going to take something special and special is what we got. Kevin de Bruyne’s pinpoint 50-yard ball in the 93rd minute was expertly taken out of the air by Jesus with his left foot and lifted over the stranded keeper Alex McCarthy with aplomb.
There was carnage behind the goal, carnage on the field and carnage on the St Mary’s touchline.
It was a goal that generations upon generations of City supporters will look back on with a beaming smile knowing they achieved what no team ever had. It didn’t secure the league title, but there were scary parallels with 2012.
City had achieved their goal in added time, on the final day.
The so-called heir to Sergio Aguero’s throne had delivered the goods in a big moment and it was certainly a coming-of-age point in his career.
Truth be told, since then, the Brazilian hasn’t really nailed down that
starting spot, but he has almost definitely been one of Guardiola’s key personnel. His likely move to Arsenal has been met with mixed emotions by City fans, but the general consensus is the transfer makes sense for all parties. Jesus could stay, but he is not guaranteed the regular game time and consistency he needs at this stage of his career.
It means he’ll say a fond farewell after scoring 95 goals in 236 appearances. But the bare facts don’t do justice to how important he has been for City and Guardiola.
The 25-year-old is perhaps the Catalan’s perfect forward. His insistent and intelligent pressing is a nightmare for the opposition and there is no surprise he has normally been picked in some of the club’s most important fixtures. There’s no doubt the £28m the club spent on him was more than worth it.