Given what Manchester City have become, it feels almost odd that there was a time not all that long ago when the Blues were anything but perennial challengers for every major honour up for grabs in domestic and continental competition.
You do not have to turn the clock back far, though, to find an era in which Stuart Pearce was playing David James up front, Mark Hughes was being ushered out of the door in a December snowstorm and 35 years had passed since any kind of addition had been made to a rather dusty trophy cabinet.
Seeds were, however, being sewn for what was to follow. City’s star-studded class of 2022 continues to chase down more major honours under Pep Guardiola, with football betting sites like Space Casino rating them as 47/100 shots for Premier League title glory this season, were the stuff of dreams back in 2012.
Everything was, however, to change in the blink of an eye on one fateful afternoon at the Etihad Stadium. For well over 90 minutes that day, it appeared as though City were to set to fluff their lines in spectacular fashion and gift wrap another top-flight crown for Sir Alex Ferguson and arch-rivals from Old Trafford.
Manchester United were famously on the pitch after reaching the final whistle of a narrow victory away at Sunderland, with champagne on ice and fireworks ready to be deployed.
⚽️ 184 goals
🏆 5 titles
😱 1 era-defining goalEnjoy retirement, @aguerosergiokun 🔵 pic.twitter.com/4ILvPpV92P
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 15, 2021
There was to be one final sting in the tail, though, that will forever be etched into football folklore. Even now, a decade on, the events of that day feel barely believable. Whoever was writing the scripts for City back then was clearly a big fan of dramatic cliffhangers.
Down to the wire
Those in attendance at the Etihad on May 13, 2012, can likely recall their every move from start to finish – from what they had for breakfast to who they hugged during an outpouring of wild emotion when a long wait for title glory was brought to a close.
Many had probably headed for the exits by the time the most iconic of Premier League goals hit the back of the net. With time running out and City needing three points in order to edge out United, all appeared to be lost.
Edin Dzeko offered hope when snatching an equaliser against Queens Park Rangers in the 92nd minute, and we all know what happened next. For the rest of eternity, the time 93:20 will mean so much to those on the blue half of Manchester.
The voices of that very special moment in City history!
93:20 | The Media 🎥 https://t.co/r1G1iEBOIp #city9320 pic.twitter.com/mCIEv09gZ7
— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 4, 2017
From the ball being fed into Mario Balotelli, to him sticking out a leg and poking through to one of world football’s finest finishers inside a congested penalty area, time in Manchester briefly stood still.
They say that it flies when you are having fun, and that has been the case for City of late – with 15 trophies collected since 2012 – and Blues supporters certainly had plenty of cause for celebration when the clock started ticking again 10 years ago and Martin Tyler let out his iconic “Aguerooooooo!” roar.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login