Match From The Past – Manchester City Put One hand On The Title

6^th May 2012

Manchester City travelled to Newcastle knowing that victory at St James’s Park would put them on the brink of a first Premier League title and a first top flight title since 1968.

A few weeks earlier, it had been so different and Roberto Mancini’s men were looking more like the nearly men. A draw with Sunderland followed by defeat at Arsenal left City eight points behind United and the title dream was in tatters. But City’s resilience came through.

While United suffered a shock defeat at Wigan and threw away a 4-2 lead to draw 4-4 at home to Everton, the blues were winning. The two met at Etihad Stadium which City edged the reds 1-0 to go top of the league. Now only Newcastle and QPR stood between them and England’s greatest crown.

The visiting blues fans were worried. City had been in great positions before, only to throw it away at the last hurdles. But this time it would be different and it was remembered that it was on this very ground that City won their last league title with a 4-3 win over the Magpies. History was on their side

From the kick-off, City dominated the game, with David Silva and Sergio Aguero being denied by the home keeper in the first 30 minutes. Newcastle came back into the match to make it a bot more interesting and give United a glimmer of hope that they could pull it off and beat the blues.

It was City who had the best chance of the half as Gareth Barry’s shot looked destined for the goal, only to be cleared off the line by a last-ditch effort form the defender.

City were struggling to make their superior possession count and it looked like the nightmare scenario that all blues dreamt the night before would come true. But then an inspired substitution saw Nigel de Jong replace Samir Nasri, and suddenly, City looked dangerous again. De Jong’s presence in midfield allowed Yaya Toure to move further up the field and the move was rewarded 10 minutes later.

Aguero laid the ball off and the Ivorian curled a low shot beyond the keeper. As the ball nestled in the back of the net, the away fans went wild with delight. City were almost there.

Aguero missed a golden chance to put the game beyond doubt when clean through, but put his shot agonisingly wide. Moments later, hearts were in City mouths as Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse almost equalised, with Cisse heading over and granting City a reprieve.

City would get another chance to put the game to bed and they again failed to take it as Toure slipped before firing home. It mattered not though as in the last minute, Toure found himself free in the box and this time he made no mistake.

A 2-0 win for City put one hand on the title and with a home match against relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers, what could possibly go wrong?

Final Score: Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City

Relive the goals here