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Miracle on Etihad

Unbelievable, it was simply unbelievable. There are not enough superlatives to describe what happened tonight. It could easily be termed as one of the best football matches in the premier league history where the championship was decided in the final minute of the gripping and entirely absorbing encounter which propelled the outburst in the stadium as City fans cried, ran, danced and buried their 44 years of wait as the blue moon rose and dethroned the red devils from the clutches of time.

Tonight is a historical night as the power changed hand and the premier league now has a new champion. It is the first time in premier league that the championship has been decided on goal difference. This is the most dramatic way to finish the season where City came back from 2-1 to win their first league since 1968. The game produced every emotional element and drama that jeopardized the fate of the match in every 5 minutes.

Pablo Zabaleta got City’s nose in front when he scored the first goal of the match in 39th minute. It was his first goal of the season and he saved it for the last. Victory was seemed evitable with that goal but the second half disastrous mistake by Lescott turned the game for QPR who fought from the core of their heart to save them from relegation. Cisse made no mistake when he found Joe Hart alone and put it past him.

Minutes later, the game changed course when Joey Barton was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez. The incident broke the excitement among players when he back kicked Aguero turning the matter worse. This was madness as QPR went down to 10 men and eventually defending to stay alive. But incredibly they stormed into a counter attack and went ahead with Jamie Mackie’s header. This was a heart breaker. The fans couldn’t believe their eyes. The moral fibre was seemed lost when they kicked the chairs and tried hard to hide their faces.

The desperation and the yelling of the manager fuelled the fire inside the players. They controlled the ball with 80% possession and attacked the QPR defence repeatedly to dig out one last chance for survival. Paddy Kenny the QPR goal keeper looked undefeatable and denied every chance City had. Roberto Mancini made a final move of desperation when he brought Balotelli and Dzeko as the substitute. Both came close netting the goal but hit the post and the Kenny instead.

As the time went past 90th mark, City was living on borrowed time. The fans started crying and the news from another Manchester game was putting the final nail in the coffin. When everything seemed all lost, the bang came. Edin Dzeko equalized in the 91st minute connecting a David Silva corner.

The celebration was mute as City had only 3 minutes to do the miracle. With one minute to go, Balotelli found the ball in the penalty box passed it to Aguero who went past a defender and fired to ball to the net and became the new legend in the City’s history of football. The fans could not believe their eyes as the shirt less Aguero stormed the field and went to the sidelines to celebrate.

 As the final whistle was blown the endless enjoinment erupted and fans entered the stadium to witness the history. The stadium became blue and began to sing “We Are the Champions”. “It’s fantastic for the club and the supporters after 44 years. It’s been a crazy season and a crazy last minute.” The Italian manager who won 3 Serie A title with Inter added: “Five minutes from the end, I didn’t think we’d win this game. But we deserved to win this and deserved to win the title. We were on top for 20 games.”I think for us it was really important to start winning this championship, Manchester City can have a big future now.”

The passion and the commitment on the pitch throughout the year came rewarding at the end of the season. Credit should also go to Yaya Toure who was instrumental scripting the victory against the Newcastle and assisting the first goal of the match. He left the pitch with for a knee injury but surely made his mark on constructing the path of the championship.

It is time for the city of Manchester to rejoice. With their newly evolved team, it can be said that the dominance of another powerhouse emerged on English soil. It is the same city which has earned 19 trophies with red shirt. Perhaps it is now time to add with some trophies with blue shirt.

About Santanu Chowdhury

I'm in love with the most popular sport in the world. Its the biggest form of physical expression. I live with it and talk about it.

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