The 2011/12 Premier League season witnessed a two-horse race between Manchester City and Manchester United for the title. Dragged on to the final day, the football fans could not have asked for a better finish, as the Eastlanders pipped their local rivals
in the most dramatic manner, by netting home two goals in stoppage time to claim their first league title in 44 years. It also marked the first time that the EPL title was decided on the scale of goal difference.
However, despite both the teams remaining neck on neck with each other for a good portion of the campaign, it were United who were the clear favourites in the closing stages. Making the most of their neighbours’ slip-ups against Sunderland and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752
Ferguson’s unit overcame the embarrassment of their 6-1 home defeat against the Eastlanders earlier, by opening up an eight points lead at the top with just six more games to play. All the chat about the Manchester derby to be played at the Etihad Stadium
being the season’s decider seemed to have gone down the drain. However, not many would have predicted accurately what was about to come.
That the Red Devils faced an intriguing fixture against Wigan Athletic in April was something known to many, given the Latics sublime run late on in the term. It so happened that the then league leaders suffered a 1-0 defeat at the DW Stadium, which put
a grain of doubt in the minds of the club’s fans. However, with just 5 more games left, a 5 point margin still seemed enough to hand United their unprecedented 20th league title.
It was Everton then, who pushed the title race wide open all over again, as they docked points from United at their own backyard, by holding them onto to a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford. It left the door ajar for City, as their win against Wolverhampton Wanderers
on the same day meant that the title race had now come all the way down to the eagerly anticipated Manchester derby.
City went into the game knowing that it was now or never for them. High on confidence from their three successive wins, Mancini’s side bagged an all important 1-0 victory to go to the summit of league table. Surely then, the derby had shaped the fortune
in favour of the blue Manchester side, and their last game against Queens Park http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rangers-c40314 would prove to be nothing more than a formality.
But for those who had followed the entire season, City were a side who had just taken the lead and were yet to cross the finish line. The drama which followed on the final day of the season would soon prove them right, as Mancini’s men had apparently choked
at the last front. A day which was supposed to be their ‘day’ from the start to the end, saw them go into the stoppage time trailing a ten-man QPR by 2-1. Celebrations had already started in the Red half of Manchester, as United had done what they needed to
do – grab a win on the last day. But they were soon to be piqued. Two goals in stoppage time by City sent the entire footballing world into raptures, as the Eastlanders wrestled the crown from the Red Devils to lift their maiden EPL laurel. The Blue Moon had
finally risen!
For United, their runners-up finish was surely difficult to digest, given they were at vantage point only a month before the final day. The turning points of the 2011/12 season will be debated for many more years to come; some will claim the Red Devils slip-ups
against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-c33030 Aguero as being the turning points.
But perhaps, the title was won and lost seven months before the final day’s action; the day when the eventual champions hammered United 6-1 at their own citadel. Given they edged their rivals on a better goal difference, the reason seems to be an irrefutable
one.
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