It doesn’t even rank as the most famous injury-time goal Sergio Aguero has scored in front of the Etihad Stadium’s North Stand. Then again, when a footballer has earned his club their first league title in 44 years with a 94th-minute goal on the final day of the season, how could it be?
Yet this ranked No 2 in the compendium of his greatest hits as a Manchester City player. There were 90 minutes on the clock, two goals apiece on the scoreboard and a group table showing City winless and at the foot of the group when Jerome Boateng misjudged a clearance. Aguero capitalised, surging through and sliding his shot past Manuel Neuer.
His hat-trick was completed, City’s win sealed, Bayern Munich’s first defeat in 19 games clinched in memorable, magnificent fashion.
Read more: Manuel Pellegrini urges Manchester City to seize chance in Champions League
As they had on the May day in 2012 when Aguero rendered City champions, some fans had made the mistake of leaving early. As on that unforgettable occasion, it ended 3-2, courtesy of two late goals. As in that seminal match, too, Aguero’s shirt-off celebration brought him a booking. It was a small price to pay for sending the Etihad Stadium into raptures.
That is something Aguero can do. He has the capacity to bring hope where there was despair, to secure a win where defeat beckoned.
“If you want to succeed at anything you need a special player in special form,” captain Vincent Kompany said. “Sergio Aguero is our special player and when he is in that form he makes things achievable.”
A Premier League season was transformed by the Argentine’s razor-sharp ruthlessness. A Champions League campaign may yet be, too. City still require a win against Roma in the Stadio Olimpico on December 10 and for Bayern Munich to take points off CSKA Moscow but Pep Guardiola pledged: “I think Manchester City and Roma know we are going to try and win the game.”
The argument from City, too, was that their winning mentality is beyond debate. A strange fatalism seemed to envelop the Etihad Stadium for much of the second half, as though they were resigned to their fate.
Yet an extraordinary finale lent itself to different conclusions.
“Always, always fight ‘til the end,” tweeted Aguero minutes after final whistle.
“We fight to the end,” said manager Manuel Pellegrini, adopting the same phrase.
Indeed, the soundtrack to the 2012 finale – “we’re Man City, we fight to the end” – came from the crowd again.
The end of Champions League games had contained a cruelty for City. Defeat in Munich and a draw in Moscow brought a solitary point after the concession of late goals. This time they scored them. Xabi Alonso provided that collectors’ item, a misplaced pass that Stevan Jovetic intercepted to send Aguero scurrying clear for the equaliser. Boateng erred for the winner.
“We made two mistakes and that is why we lost,” added Guardiola. “We lost the game. We gave them the game.” He excused Alonso and Boateng, however, referencing a “gargantuan” effort with 10 men. The great culprit was Mehdi Benatia, the former City target who scythed Aguero down, conceding a penalty and receiving his marching orders.
The Argentine converted it, scoring his 15th of the season. Numbers 16 and 17 followed in a campaign that has only encompassed 18 games. He had three shots. He scored three goals. They earned three points.
The problem, as Pellegrini pointed out was that: “We cannot concede two goals every game we play because it is very difficult to win.”
They conceded two in the space of six minutes to Bayern’s 10 men. Alonso’s low free kick whizzed past a static Joe Hart. Then the former City player Jerome Boateng crossed and Lewandowski climbed highest looped a header over Hart.
The Pole, indisputably, is one of the game’s finest strikers. So, too, is Aguero. “He is one of the best players of the world,” Pellegrini said.
And how City required one.
With Yaya Toure and Fernandinho suspended, with David Silva injured, with his former sidekick Alvaro Negredo now at Valencia, their hopes rested with one man. He obliged.
The coolest finisher of them all delivered at the death again and, in an instant, City forgot their disillusionment with Uefa and a competition that has brought them a diet of disappointment. Aguero excelled and exhilarated. City were excited.
Well, almost everyone was. Was it, Pellegrini was asked, one of his most dramatic wins?
“No, I don’t think so,” he replied. It was a bizarre coda to a brilliant display.”
sports@thenational.ae
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The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Specs
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
