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One of the unfortunate things about sports is that too
often, there's so many great moments that some end up getting lost in the
shuffle. Especially here in America. As a nation built on sports, the
Transformers series and a startling amount of porn, you'd think we would know
when to hold a great sports moment on a pedestal. As it turns out, not always
the case, especially with events that don't happen in football, baseball or
basketball. Combine that with the short attention span pop culture has today in
general, and it's easy for sports achievement to just disappear. Who here will
remember five years from now the Calgary Flames' against all odds run in this
year's NHL playoffs, where they proved doubters, advanced statisticians and
common sense wrong? Or how about the Kansas City Royals' Cinderella run that
nearly won them a World Series if not for the king of the hill himself, Madison
Bumgarner? Or best yet, what about that final Sunday for the Barclay's English
Premier League three years ago today, when an empire, an underdog and a
tortured club came together to create a memory that would last a lifetime?
On May 13, 2012, six days before Chelsea's improbably Champions League victory over Bayern Munich, another drama was
about to play out in English Football. Manchester United, the Hulk Hogan of
football (even most Americans know who Man U is), arrived at the Stadium of
Light (GREAT NAME!) to take on Sunderland, in hopes of capturing their 20th
league title in club history. There was just a problem; Man U was behind on
goal differential to their bitter rivals, Manchester City, who had clawed back
from an eight point deficit in the final weeks and needed only to beat the
lowly Queens Park Rangers comfortably to capture the title. This would be no
ordinary title win however; it would in fact be Manchester City's first league
title in 44 years, the football equivalent to the droughts of the Boston Red
Sox and Chicago Cubs here in the states (though far less severe). I mean, it
seemed like this was going to be a pretty special Sunday, with either a
historical juggernaut adding to their reign of domination, or their plucky
rival rising up to break one of English football's greatest curses. And then
the games started. For the first forty five minutes, City and United traded the
top spot in the Premier League. Wayne Rooney put United ahead with an early
goal against Sunderland, only for City to respond twenty minutes later with a
Pablo Zabaletta goal. With United unable to get anything else past Sunderland
and City dominating QPR, it appeared that City merely had to hold serve in the
second half, and the title would be theirs.
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| QPR Striker Djibril Cissé |
And that's when the Queens Park Rangers happened. Lost in
all the hoopla between City and United was the fact that QPR was fighting for
something that day too; a chance to avoid relegation and keep their Premier
League spot (for US readers; in the Premier League, the worst teams are demoted
to a lower tier in the football divisions at the end of every season). Thus,
instead of rolling over in the second half, they fought back. In the 48th
minute, QPR striker Djibril Cissé took
advantage of a misplayed Joleon Lescott header and fired a screamer past Joe
Hart, tying the QPR-City game at 1-1 and putting United back ahead in the chase
for the title. Things only got worse for City, despite QPR going down to ten
men after Joey Barton was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez. In the 65th
minute, QPR broke free and Jamie Mackie was able to head in the ball on a
cross, giving QPR the lead (that's right, THE LEAD) against City. Somehow,
despite being the superior opponent and having more men in a game they merely
needed to win, Manchester City found themselves down to QPR, and needing either
two goals or a surge from Sunderland against United to win the title, a title
they had won going into the day. Fans reacted accordingly.
The next twenty five
minutes became a blur of emotions. Manchester City went into full attack mode,
but were unable to find the back of the net. United meanwhile held serve,
allowing no goals to Sunderland en route to a 1-0 victory and seemingly their
20th title. And then it changed in the blink of an eye. Granted five minutes of
stoppage time, largely because of Barton's sending off that delayed the game,
City struck. Edin Džeko volleyed a header in after a beautiful David Silva
corner (shocking to no one as Silva is one of the most underrated
players in football) to tie the game. No sooner did that happen, City regained
the ball and drove down the pitch, where the ball found itself at the feet of
Sergio "Kun" Aguero. The then son-in-law of legend Diego Maradona and
far and away City's best player, Aguero strolled into the box, glanced quickly
at the goal and fired. Goal. The crowd in Maine Road exploded into a sound
you've never quite heard before, jumping around in celebration like punk
rockers in a mosh pit. Aguero sprinted shirtless (of course) across the pitch
until his teammates mauled him. Joe Hart ran around like Tuco in the "Ecstasy
of Gold" sequence in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. City manager Roberto Mancini
hugged everyone within site on the sideline. And the Manchester United
supporters in Sunderland suddenly went from celebrating to gasps of shock. In
the span of five minutes, Manchester City overcame it all, and pulled out the
Premier League title, their first in 44 years.
To say that what transpired in those 90 minutes was
legendary is underselling it. As an American watching some of his first ever
Premier League action (the States were slow to pick up on European soccer
unfortunately), it was frankly one of the greatest sports moments I'd ever
seen. And not just the final five minutes, the whole 90! There was simply so
much to be impressed by. Take the Queens Park Rangers for instance. I've
mentioned in the previous two columns that I was a fan of the team. Well, this
is the game that made me a fan. With so much on the line for Manchester City
and so much of a talent gap between the two clubs, this was a game where QPR
could've easily just rolled over. They didn't. They instead scratched, clawed
and willed themselves back into the game and took advantage of the few breaks
they got. Hell, even Barton's red card and the aftermath, as reckless and
terrible as it was, served to highlight that QPR wouldn't go down without a
fight. They may have lost the game, but for all intents and purposes, QPR did
more than enough to win. And best of all, they were rewarded with staying in
the Premier League after Bolton failed to knock them out.
But let's be real; this is about one team and one team only,
and that's the winner. There are plenty of people out there who can't possibly
understand what Manchester City and their fans went through leading up to and
during that game. I do understand. My favorite baseball team is the Chicago
Cubs, a team that hasn't won a World Series in 106 years and counting. I live
in New England, where for 86 years fans waited for the Boston Red Sox to bring
home a title. The pressure that puts on a team, the angst that leaves the fan
base perpetually in is enormous, and it's a big reason you see/saw those two
teams fall short in big situations. I'm not trying to make it seem like
Manchester City's woes were anything like those two, but 44 years without a
title is a long, LONG time, and I can guarantee you that when they fell down
2-1 to a team on the verge of regulation that the doubt started to creep back
in. To have come that far, to have gotten so close, only to then fall to a poor
team and lose the title to your biggest rival? Shakespeare wouldn't be so
cruel. Alright that's a lie, but he would've used nice words to describe it.
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| The shirtless hero, Serigo "Kun" Aguero |
Instead, much like their opponents did, they responded. And
that's what makes those final five minutes so special. You can hate on Manchester
City all you want, and trust me, there's a lot of people I know who don't care
for them. But how can you not respect the will to pick yourself up off the floor,
look history in the eye and, in the words of ESPN commentator Ian Darke, become
"the team that came back from the dead"? How can you not appreciate a
superior talent like Aguero stepping up when his club needed him and
delivering what will probably be the biggest goal of his life (save for winning
the World Cup for Argentina perhaps)? Better yet, how can you not feel good for
a fan base that had suffered through so much, looked as if it was going to get
yet another kick in the gut, and then got the miracle they always wanted? If
you take nothing else away from that memorable Sunday three years ago today,
take away the fact that in five minutes, 44 years were washed away like tears
in rain, replaced with the most wonderful feeling a football/sports fan can
feel. I hope to feel that way when the Cubs win one day. I know City and Red
Sox fans felt it when their teams got to the mountain. It's the kind of thing
that the great Martin Tyler (yes, lot's of excellent commentators covered this
game. Why did this get no play in the US again?) described that day after
Aguero's goal, "I swear, you'll never see anything like this ever again.
So watch it. Drink it in."
Since that game three years ago, Manchester City has won
another Premier League title and is now one of the best clubs in England's top
tier. They're no longer the likable underdog fighting for the same respect as
their legendary rival (some would argue they never were likable), and they no
longer have many of the key players that helped earn them that title, including
Mancini and Mario Balotelli, who helped set up Aguero's game winner (Aguero is
still with the team, at least for now). The price of winning is that
unfortunately, just like the moment itself, the great moments that got you
there sometimes fall through the cracks and get forgotten in the long mantle of
trophies and arrogance. But for many, Manchester City's miracle victory over
QPR is something that will stand the test of time. I will never forget it, as
it introduced me to the club I love (and loathe, thanks to their continued
employment of Robert Green) and me a hardcore football junkie for life. Most
importantly, I'll never forget it because it told the tale of two teams that
never quit, never stopped fighting, and that in the end one of them got
everything they ever wanted. So I raise my glass of Pepsi to you, Manchester
City, and wish you a happy third year anniversary, to as Darke put it, the Team
That Came Back From the Dead.
Follow Cult on Twitter @CultIcon
Email Cult at fallenhero17@yahoo.com
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