EPL: City's theatrics rescue title from Man United's grasp

Like the marathon runner who collapses a few metres short of the finish line or the mountaineer afflicted by altitude sickness within scrambling distance of the summit, Manchester City, it seemed, would be forced to taste such indescribable agony. But, while thousands of their fans had given up the ghost against QPR long before the final whistle at the Etihad Stadium, the players had not. While up in the terraces, the faces were etched with suffering, down below they just kept on going, refusing to contemplate the consequences of failure. And so it was, already in injury time, that David Silva stroked a left-footed corner from the right with the calm demeanour you’d expect to see on the training ground - and he made sweet contact. The tall Bosnian substitute Edin Dzeko was the intended target, and he leapt to head home with assurance. The scoreline was now 2-2, and City were back in business. Still, the fans doubted, some had left the stadium altogether. [caption id=“attachment_307900” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Maybe next time, for everyone’s sake, City won’t leave it quite so late to win the damn thing. Getty Images”]  [/caption] What then happened, if you were watching the match in the UK, was a quick switch to a split screen, and Sir Alex Ferguson, chewing his gum and tapping his watch at the Stadium of Light – where the final whistle had gone. If QPR could at least see off the last four minutes of added time without conceding a second, Manchester United could celebrate yet another title. So what did City’s opponents do? With a degree of cowardice, and presumably aware that Bolton had been held to a draw, ensuring they could not be relegated themselves, QPR kicked the ball out of play straight from the re-start. Suddenly there was ample time left for City to build again, and so they did, but without panic – as though they actually believed against any logic that they could no longer be denied. It was another City sub, Mario Balotelli of all people, who somehow stretched out a right boot to lay a ball into Sergio Aguero’s feet - and his angled, energetic run across the penalty area left QPR’s defenders flat-footed, creating space for a rasping shot that he smashed into the net. It was the moment that kicked off a party in one half of Manchester – the like of which hadn’t been celebrated since 1968 – and snuffed out the dreams of the other, which has probably spent a bit too much time wallowing in glory over the past couple of decades. It was a grimly uncomfortable time for United, those last couple of minutes as they waited desperately for news of the final whistle from the Etihad Stadium. Their own work was done, a victory secured thanks to an early Wayne Rooney goal. But this was always going to be a day when half an ear was turned to what was going on elsewhere. And for long periods of the second half in Sunderland, United fans celebrated raucously – because, either side of waves of fruitless City attacks, QPR scored, not once but twice. First, Joleon Lescott attempted a simple headed clearance but only steered the ball into Djibril Cisse’s path, and the Frenchman equalised. Then QPR’s Joey Barton was sent off. The disgraceful midfielder will surely be sacked by his manager Mark Hughes now after trying to lash out at various players following his red card. With one less defender in their way, City poured forward but the skill was not always there even if the will was strong. To make matters a whole heap worse, in one breakaway, QPR stole a second goal when Armand Traore skipped past the normaly flawless Vincent Kompany and crossed for Jamie Mackie to head home. At this point you had to sympathise with City and their long-suffering fans, despite the frankly distasteful quantities of cash that have allowed Roberto Mancini to sign almost any available player willing to make the move – the intoxicating Lille midfielder Eden Hazard is the next such target. How on earth could they lose a match in which they had 44 shots compared to their opponents’ three, and enjoyed a staggering 81% of the possession? In the end, of course, they didn’t lose it. Eventually, QPR’s spirit broke, and for the millions of English football followers fed up of seeing United waltz away with the Championship time and time again, this was the right result. Maybe next time, for everyone’s sake, City won’t leave it quite so late to win the damn thing.