5 Minutes of Heart Breaking Extra Time [ City EPL Champions]

There were people on the pitch and it was all over. The 44 years, over. The punchlines, over. The mockery, over. Laughing on the outside, crying on the inside, that horrid little ticker at Old Trafford, those long Monday mornings at work having to pretend you didn't really care. Over, over, over.

Gone, all gone. Gone in a moment of unparalleled drama and ecstasy. Gone when all seemed lost. Gone on a day when, for 45 minutes that must have felt like hot-needle torture, it looked as if the capacity for chaos that has almost become a club trademark through five decades had returned to torment them once more. 

The mission was quite simple. Manchester City needed to defeat Queens Park Rangers, the team with the worst away record in the Premier League, to win the title, barring a mathematical miracle in the match between Manchester United and Sunderland. 

Yet as this game entered injury time, the trophy was hovering over Wearside in preparation for delivery to Sir Alex Ferguson once again. United were winning, thanks to a 20th-minute goal from Wayne Rooney, and City were somehow contriving to trail 10-man QPR 2-1. There were tears, as there always are on this day of the season. 

Let's party! Manchester City's jubilant players lift the Premier League trophy after the late drama

Striking at the death: Aguero wheels away after his magical late goal sealed the title for City

Amazing: Aguero is mobbed as the City fans struggle to believe what they are seeing

Glory boys: Roberto Mancini and his captain Vincent Kompany parade the Premier League trophy at the Etihad Stadium

Beautiful moment: Mancini and Carlos Tevez hold the trophy after putting their troubles behind them

No matter how much they steeled themselves for disappointment, City's long-suffering faithful would not be human if they did not also allow a dream. And here it was, in ruin before their eyes. Worse, the title was going to that lot again. Has there ever been a crueller twist of the knife? The details from that point will be well known by now. 

The equaliser from substitute Edin Dzeko, the winning goal from Sergio Aguero with 110 seconds of the domestic season remaining, the sheer force of will that took him past two Rangers defenders to score. What can never be captured on the black and white pages of the record books is the effect this day will have on all those who were present, its ramifications for the English game, the simple joy it brought, the shock of the new. 

For, putting allegiances to one side, is that not what we want from sport? A new experience, a new kind of kick: and here it was. Manchester City are league champions. That is something we believed would never happen in our lifetime. The fans who surged on to the pitch could scarcely comprehend it, either. 

Ice cool: Aguero blasts home to seal the 3-2 victory that made City champions after a 44-year wait

Incredible: Goal hero Sergio Aguero celebrates winning the title at the final whistle

Can you believe it? City players go wild after Sergio Aguero's last-gasp heroics against QPR

Listening to City's mournful songs of celebration told its own story: Wonderwall, Hey Jude, Blue Moon. This is the music of ultimate sadness, of a club that fails, that disappoints. The champagne might be on ice but the exploding cork would put out an eye and the contents would be flat anyway. To these fans, the preceding 92 minutes made considerably more sense than the final three.

Some are calling this the greatest Premier League season and it is increasingly reasonable to concur. Certainly, it is the greatest climax, considering that Arsenal's famous win over Liverpool at Anfield occurred in the days of the old Football League. The most remarkable aspect was that at the end of the day the league, at top and bottom, looked exactly as it did at the start - yet it still felt as if the ground was shaking with the aftershocks of an earthquake. 

So much of this season's narrative seemed to converge in the Etihad Stadium. City's journey to the summit, the transfer of power in Manchester and, we can only hope, the conclusion of Joey Barton's career as media sage. His dismissal - inadvertently adding the extra time in which Manchester City won the league - is surely worthy of more than the standard four-match ban for another red card. 

Shock to the system: Djibril Cisse equalises for QPR to stun the home crowd at 1-1

Incredible: Jamie Mackie nods home QPR's second goal at Manchester City in unbelievable scenes

All over: Mackie wheels away as City's stunned players struggle to absorb their collapse

He assaulted Carlos Tevez off the ball, was sent off and then assaulted Sergio Aguero before leaving the field. It was a despicable display, that could have cost his team their place in the Premier League had they not fought valiantly with 10 men. By Sunday evening, Barton had taken to his preferred medium, Twitter, to justify his actions, but it was of scant interest. 

He can tell it to the judge, his followers, his autobiographer, BBC Newsnight (where he was asked to discuss the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager), The Times (where he has written for the op-ed pages), The Guardian (where he attended the editor's conference), tell it to the marines for all anyone cares - this was not the behaviour of a club captain or a Premier League footballer, two titles Rangers manager Mark Hughes may wish to challenge as the dust settles this summer.

Elsewhere, issues were settled according to expectations, even if there were twists and turns. Arsenal won at West Bromwich Albion to claim third place, but Tottenham Hotspur also won to cement fourth, although they will be bumped from the Champions League if Chelsea defeat Bayern Munich on Saturday. Newcastle United came fifth and Everton finished ahead of Liverpool. At the bottom, a draw at Stoke City meant Bolton Wanderers became the final club to fall, despite QPR's capitulation. 

Star showing: Liam Gallagher (top middle) celebrates with the City fans at the end of the match

Never forget: City fans party on the pitch after their epic comeback against QPR

Our moment: City supporters pour on to the pitch at the final whistle at the Etihad Stadium

Now we rule the city: Manchester City fans celebrate with a banner aimed at their rivals

This led to strange scenes in Manchester, winners and losers celebrating side by side, City's fans toasting the title, those of Rangers just as happy to have survived. 

They all danced together to One Step Beyond; in their own way they have each gone beyond this season. Few more so than the match-winner, Aguero.

He announced his arrival as a substitute in the first game of the season against Swansea City, stealing the headlines such was his impact on a match already won. 

Sunday was the full stop, more of an exclamation mark, really - a grand flourish, a final flick of the pen. And that's all he wrote. At times he has looked on his last legs as City stumbled from a frontrunner's position, yet he found a reserve of energy when it mattered most. 

The finest compliment that can be paid is that this was a victory, a triumph, of which Ferguson would be proud. 

This was United-esque, a phrase that may make blue lips curl with contempt, but not for long, we hope. There is no negative intended. Few rivals have the talent or pure determination to ape United's most sensational moments under Ferguson.

Winning the title in this manner will set City's players up for the tests ahead: retaining the trophy and next season's assault on the Champions League. 

The future begins tomorrow morning, once heads clear - if it didn't already begin over glasses of celebratory champagne last night. Very few titles are won on goal difference, however, so credit United, too. 

Top of the tree: City's players throw their arms in the air after securing their long-awaited title

Smiles better: Mario Balotelli (centre) shares a joke with manager Roberto Mancini as they wear Italian flags

Show us your medal: Joe Hart holds team-mate David Silva as they enjoy their moment

That they ran City to the final two minutes of the season is testament to the resilience Ferguson instils in his players, certainly having lost home and away to his title rivals. Yet the table does not lie and while it shows the Manchester clubs tied on points, it also confirms that City have scored more goals and let in fewer than their rivals. 

The loss of Nemanja Vidic was huge for United, obviously, but the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo, too. It had to catch up with them sooner or later and while it seems like ancient history on an afternoon such as this, ultimately it is hard to imagine United surrendering a title on goal difference to anybody while Ronaldo was on their roster. 

Rooney has been magnificent this season, Antonio Valencia - Ronaldo's direct replacement - has been very good, too. Yet how many league goals has Valencia scored? Four. How many in total? Six. How many did Ronaldo score this season with Real Madrid and Portugal? Sixty-two. In his final season with United? Twenty-five. The year before that? Forty-six. It is impossible to lose a match-defining force of that magnitude and remain immune year after year.

Shocked: Sir Alex Ferguson looks visibly stunned by the late news coming in from City

Nightmare: United's players are helpless as they absorb the news coming in from the Etihad Stadium

Delight: United celebrate Wayne Rooney's crucial goal at Sunderland - before City's big collapse

Ronaldo has now been gone three years; United have lost two of those titles, and to different clubs. What happens next is Ferguson's worst nightmare. Whatever the resources of the noisy neighbours, United have always been able to tout their reputation as winners. They pay the money, we win the pots. Not any more. City now offer the best deal and, arguably, the best chance of success, too. 

It gets harder for United from here, and the time Ferguson spent with his staff as his players waited forlornly on the coach at the Stadium of Light seemed to reinforce this. A year ago, he was promising to regroup and have a tilt at Barcelona after being humbled in the Champions League final; now his problems are much closer to home. 

Before addressing foreign policy, Ferguson needs to deal with domestic issues; it is United, not City, who will have to overcome the shattered emotions of this tumultuous day. 'Not in my lifetime,' Ferguson once promised when asked if City could ever enter a derby game as favourites. City fans held banners aloft reminding him of this fact. It is their turn to mock now; their clock that ticks contemptuously.

Not this time: Signage was at the Stadium of Light just in case, but was not needed for Manchester United

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2143724/Manchester-City-win-English-Premier-League-title-Martin-Samuel.html#ixzz1up6DbWWN

Monster Munch's £74m Scream!

ICONIC painting The Scream became the most expensive artwork ever to be sold at auction yesterday, fetching £74million in New York.

City is the new Kings of Manchester!

After a quarter of a century at the helm, after conquering Europe twice and England 12 times, an unwanted scenario beckons for the Scot. The most decorated manager in history may see his side officially second best in his adopted city.

As United's taunts rebounded on them, the City support gloried in Ferguson's misfortune. "Fergie's cracking up," came the chorus. "The noisy neighbours are getting louder, Alex" - the knighthood went unacknowledged - read a banner. Roberto Mancini was subjected to a blast of the hairdryer after Nigel de Jong's cynical challenge on Danny Welbeck. But, rather than cowering, the Italian responded in kind.

It was an argument that continued after the game. "Mancini was badgering the ref and the fourth official all game," Ferguson complained. The Italian countered sarcastically: "He doesn't talk with the referee or the fourth official. Never."

If it was petty, it was also symbolic. City have stood up to United this season, casting off the age-old inferiority complex to beat them by an aggregate score of 7-1 in the league derbies and secure a substantial lead on goal difference with two games to go. "They are in the driving seat and we are up against it," Ferguson admitted. Implausibly yet somehow predictably, Mancini insisted: "They have a slight advantage." His analysis of the situation at the summit was: "It doesn't change anything. We are there [first] but we need to win the next two games." They are against Newcastle and QPR - the reasons the Italian claims United are favourites.

Yet his side hardly played like underdogs. Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott were twin bastions of defiance in defence, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure the dominant midfield axis. Gael Clichy, long troubled by Nani, triumphed against his tormentor on one wing; on the other, Pablo Zabaleta played like a man possessed.

They rose to the challenge while United shrank from it. For the first time since May 2009, they failed to record a shot on target in a Premier League game. Theirs was a timid toothlessness.

"It was a damaging result," Ferguson said. Yet his intention was damage limitation, to preserve United's three-point advantage. "For them it was important to play for a draw," Mancini argued. "They played with all the players behind the ball."

It was an exaggeration. The nine-man rearguard worked for Chelsea in the Camp Nou, but it is not a failsafe policy. In any case, this was not so much the Di Matteo masterplan as a scheme plucked from United's past, an old tactic of crowding the midfield for away games in Europe. It has only really been revived at Anfield in this league campaign, when United escaped with a draw. There was no repeat, no reprieve after conceding first.

GettyImagesVincent Kompany celebrates scoring the only goal of the game

Ferguson's tinkering backfired. The man brought in from the cold illustrated why he had languished there. Park Ji-Sung had only made two league starts in 2012 but was summoned to man-mark Toure. The powerhouse had a constant companion in the early exchanges but preferred the single life, would-be marker left trailing in his wake. A big-game player proved a major mistake: 'Three Lungs', as Park is nicknamed in his homeland, is more like 'One Lung' now, puffing like a serial smoker before being replaced.

Plan B entailed the introductions of Danny Welbeck, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. It was no more productive than the original approach. Indeed, City, exploiting the extra space, almost added a second goal when Toure twice shot wide, De Gea pushed Clichy's shot away and Samir Nasri tried to dribble the ball in.

Their goal came in more prosaic fashion. Kompany beat Chris Smalling to David Silva's corner. After leading by example all season, he may be a fitting scorer for the biggest derby in the fixture's 118-year history. As he is married to a Mancunian, he is, in some respects, the closest to a local in the City side. Not that a surprise visitor to City's press conference room agreed. "Vive la Belgium," Liam Gallagher said. The former Oasis singer was crowing on a night when City were feeling supersonic and United had plenty of reasons to look back in anger.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Pablo Zabaleta. If much of the build-up focused on Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero, the unheralded Argentine flourished. At times Zabaleta was a one-man right flank, appearing in either box with considerable effect. He also kept Ryan Giggs quiet to reinforce his reputation for delivering on the major stage.

MANCHESTER CITY VERDICT: The more positive side were the deserving winners, with Ferguson accepting he could not complain about the result. Toure showed why he has been the Premier League's outstanding central midfielder this season and Kompany why he has been the finest centre-back. Mancini's regret was that they did not score the second goal that would have improved a goal difference already eight superior to United's.

MANCHESTER UNITED VERDICT: It was another chastening derby that leaves them reliant upon others for favours, even if Mancini - again - said their last two games, against Swansea and Sunderland, are "easy". If the initial tactic was unsuccessful, it was understandable. But it was more damning that United did not test Hart thereafter. Park was utterly ineffective while Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, long the derby talismans, could not repeat past heroics.

DIEGO WHO? The game was graced by the presence of Diego Maradona, otherwise known as Aguero's father-in-law, but the man brought onto the pitch at half-time was Shaun Goater. There is something quintessentially City about that, something endearing in the applause granted to a reminder of their days in League One. That was in 1999, when they were third tier and United were European champions.

Magic of Scholes

MU 2 QPR 0: Paul Scholes’s return to the United squad in January remains one of the season’s defining moments. United have won all but one of the league games he has played and yesterday he was by far the game’s stand-out performer.

It crowned another majestic performance and eased the nerves around Old Trafford just when United’s failure to build on their one-goal lead against 10 men was beginning to cause concern.‘It was a typical Paul Scholes goal,’ said Ferguson. ‘You see the control he has of the game and our tempo. He’s a great, great player.’ Afterwards, the statistics flowed even though the champagne didn’t.

It was Scholes’s 153rd goal for United in 692 appearances, coming almost 18 years after he last scored against QPR. One stat even pointed out that his last four Premier League goals outside the penalty box had come against London clubs.

Super De Gea!

It's all down to De Gea! Ex-England keeper Martyn says United form down to stopper

By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

Former England goalkeeper Nigel Martyn believes David de Gea's upturn in form has been the catalyst behind Manchester United's resurgence as odds-on favourites to retain their Barclays Premier League title.

Martyn, who made 23 appearances for England between 1992 and 2002, thinks the 21-year-old goalkeeper has rediscovered his confidence following a tough start to his career at Old Trafford.

De Gea has been under the spotlight after he replaced the retiring Edwin van der Sar, especially following some shaky performances in the early part of the season.

Contortion: David de Gea is in top form

However, the Spaniard was unflappable in last night's 2-0 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park, tipping over Marcus Olsson's strike at the end of the first half before saving Grant Hanley's header from the following corner.The performance was in stark contrast to his display against the same opposition at Old Trafford on New Year's Eve where he was subsequently dropped, and Martyn believes United's current success is closely linked with De Gea's improvement.

'He's a young man coming through a foreign country, playing in a different league and it's obviously going to take him a little bit of time to adapt.'

'Working at it as he obviously is, it's bearing fruits now. His form has coincided with Manchester United's form at the end of the season and it's on that basis, a good defence and a good goalkeeper, that league titles are won.

'Possibly his mistakes were coinciding with the period of time that Manchester United didn't look as if they were realistic title challengers, but what has happened is his good form has coincided with theirs.

Reflex: Nigel Martyn is no stranger to the complexities of goalkeeping

'It's probably not a coincidence that the two things have gone together and they've kicked on and really are odds on favourites to win.

'I think it's definitely his form that has enabled the rest of the team to gather their form. Goals have dried up going in and they've increased at the other end and that's always a good sign.'

And Martyn, who ended his professional playing career playing for Everton in 2006, praised De Gea's attitude in overcoming his shaky start despite the glare of public and media attention.

'It's impressive for somebody so young. You're always better for having to come through a difficult period,' Martyn said.

Deal with it: De Gea is proving all his detractors wrong

'He's dealt with his mistakes and taken his criticism. I haven't seen him moan about anything.

'Without doubt you make more mistakes the younger you are. You've seen the situation so many times before as you get older but when you're younger they're all fairly new situations so he's had to deal with that.

'He got his head down and got on with the work which is the right thing to do and now he looks like a much more secure goalkeeper again and Manchester United will need him to be for the remaining games they have to play.

'It's not over with - he has to maintain that level of performance but certainly on a confidence point of view it will be very high, and when your confidence is high, your ability shines through.'

Socrates (1954-2011)

The Doctor who prescribed football with backheels and a touch of rock 'n' roll

He looked more like a rock star than a footballer, with a towering awkward frame, straggly hair - and, of course, the beard.

The 1980s image of Brazil midfielder Socrates is still plastered across retro T-shirts today, a la his hero Che Guevara, and his effect on a generation who fell in love with the Samba Boys is almost as revolutionary.

Tall order: Socrates (right) shakes hands with Argentina skipper Daniel Passarella ahead of their match at the 1982 World Cup finals

The Socrates that was taken to Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital last week still wore the same hirsute look, with occasional head band, albeit with greyness that comes with age and a premature frailty that resulted from overindulgence in alcohol.

His death at 57 leaves behind a wife - Katia Bagnarelli - six sons, and a legion of those who witnessed the majesty of Spain '82.

There he captained perhaps the most thrilling team to have been denied the World Cup. After Pele's last title in 1970, Brazil spent a decade in decline until they were saved by the delicious midfield quartet of Falcao, Cerezo, Zico and their skipper.

It was the birth of the free-flowing 4-2-2-2 formation that has seen only minor adjustments for the Canarinhas over the last 30 years.

Socrates scored Brazil's first goal of the tournament - and it has become one of the most replayed in World Cup history. 

Trailing to Andriy Bal's opener for the Soviet Union, the No 8 pounced on a poorly cleared corner. Thirty yards from goal, he shimmied past two defenders before launching a long-range effort across the goalkeeper from the edge of the box with 15 minutes to play. 

Eder added a similarly spectacular late winner and a legend was born.

Aided by the back-heels and genius pinpoint passing that became Socrates' trademark, Brazil went on to steamroller Scotland, New Zealand and Argentina before succumbing to a man in the form of his life.

Paolo Rossi scored a hat-trick in Barcelona as Italy won 3-2 to send Brazil home without a trophy, but with the adulation of millions.

By 1986 Socrates, then 32, had lost the captaincy, Brazil had lost some of their magic, and they were knocked out in the quarter-final by France in what was to be Argentina's year.

Socrates would later say: 'Titles are ephemeral. What matters in football is the passion, regardless of conquests.'

The cerebral son of Belem do Para often sounded more like his ancient Greek namesake than a humble footballer. And away from the game he was a qualified doctor and also a campaigner who named his youngest son Fidel after Cuba's revolutionary president.

The start of career was punctuated by his insistence of practising as a medical student while playing in the Botafogo first team. The unusual career path gave him the nickname O Doutor - The Doctor.
In 1978 he moved from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo to join Corinthians, the club with which he became most associated. 

Aside from winning the Paulista title three times and earning the South American Footballer of the Year award with them, he also fought for players' rights off the pitch, winning freedoms and a say in club policy that was in contrast to the democracy denied to the wider Brazilian public.

Cool customers: Socrates with Zico relaxing in Mexico at the 1986 World Cup

Brandishing banners and wearing pro-democracy slogans on football shirts was one thing, but Socrates widened his fight in 1984 by joining the Diretas Já campaign, which demanded the direct election of presidents at a time when the country was under an authoritarian military regime.

An unhappy 18 months at Fiorentina in the mid-Eighties was his only spell outside of Brazilian club football until he briefly came out of retirement seven years ago to play for 12 minutes for Garforth Town in the eighth-tier Northern Counties East League.

In recent years he had written on many subjects, as well as turning his hand to colourful football punditry, and was working on a novel inspired by the 2014 World Cup being awarded to his homeland.

When signing up to analyse the Copa America for the Associated Press this year he insisted his musings would not be confined only to football. 

'It's not just about the game itself,' he said. 'Before anything, football is a psychological battle - the human aspect plays a significant role.'

Legend: Socrates (left) in his pomp and pulling pints on his famous trip to Garforth in 2004

Yet his medical background did not stop him indulging in vices. He was known as a heavy drinker and smoker, despite insisting less than a fortnight ago that alcohol was his friend rather than an addiction, and that he had been on the wagon for five months.

Socrates' decline was apparent in August when he was taken to hospital with a haemorrhage caused by high pressure in the vein that carries blood from the digestive system to the liver.

A recurrence of the same problem saw him spend another 17 days in hospital in September and he was in line for a liver transplant. 

Last Thursday he was to be admitted to the intensive care unit for the final time, after falling ill during dinner.

The man with 60 caps and 22 international goals died at dawn on the final day of the Brazilian league season, with his beloved Corinthians needing to beat Sao Paulo rivals Palmeiras to be crowned champions. 

The game - as all across the home of flamboyant football - will be preceded by a minute's silence in memory of one Brazil's most gifted sons. 

The Doctor. Golden Heel. The Big Thin One. 

Quite simply, Socrates.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2069790/Socrates-dead-Tribute-Brazil-legend.html#ixzz1fcLvkICf