Manchester City: 9 Greatest Moments from This Past Historic Year

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Manchester City: Champions of England.

You can forgive City fans for still reliving that stoppage-time winner from Sergio Aguero with a huge grin on their face.

You can still picture that triumphant pitch invasion at the Etihad Stadium, where fans sat on the turf still trying to take in what exactly had happened over the previous 90 minutes.

And you can still hear the roar around the Blue half of Manchester when Vincent Kompany lifted that much-awaited Premier League trophy, the moment that made City the fifth different team to win the Premier League.

Now let’s take a look back at the greatest moments in this historic 2011-2012 season for Manchester City.

Sergio Aguero Signs On

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July 28, 2011: The No. 16 shirt has a new bearer.

One of the most hyped players in European football, Diego Maradona’s son-in-law, Atletico Madrid’s strike phenom.

Sergio Aguero’s arrival was a huge statement of intent to get the absolute best players from around the world to sign onto their project.

He would go on to equal the scoring record for a foreigner’s debut season in the Premier League, and of course enter City history by scoring the goal that won them the title.

Not a bad signing at all.

Four-Star Dzeko

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August 28, 2011: City travel to Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane and come away with five goals.

After a much-maligned first six months at the Etihad, big-money signing Edin Dzeko had finally come of age as he smashed four goals at the ground of a fellow top-four challenger.

Samir Nasri got in on the act after his controversial move from Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal, scoring a goal and putting in a performance of the highest quality.

Only two seasons ago, Tottenham had put City out of the Champions League.

This result proved that, in the time that had elapsed, City had leapt out of Tottenham’s league.

Derby Demolition

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October 23, 2011: Roberto Mancini delivers a six-goal thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

There are no words that can do justice to City’s mouthwatering performance in the neighbors’ backyard, as United had no answers to David Silva’s playmaking masterclass and City’s ruthless finishing.

Simply put, United were shell-shocked.

It was the first concrete piece of evidence that the Blue Moon was just peeking its head over the horizon.

Two-Nil over Bayern

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December 7, 2011: City beat eventual Champions League finalists Bayern Munich.

In their maiden Champions League campaign, City were handed an unkind draw, with Napoli, Bayern and Villarreal in their group.

While their third-placed finish in the group stages led to their dropping into the Europa League and reflected their lack of experience at the highest level, City did enjoy their moment of glory.

David Silva and Yaya Toure’s goals brought City one of their finest European results, but sadly, it didn’t matter as Napoli’s win against Villarreal ensured that City wouldn’t be able to qualify for the knockout stages.

Dismantling the Europa League Champions

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February 22, 2012: A 4-0 win against Porto shows City’s true potential on the European stage.

Fresh from a 2-1 win away from home, City returned to the Etihad with Portuguese champions Porto, the reigning Europa League winners, the visitors.

Goals from Aguero, Dzeko, Silva and David Pizarro ensured that Porto had no match for Mancini’s superstars.

A kinder draw in the Champions League group stages next season should see City show their undoubted quality on the biggest of stages.

Tevez’s Triumphant Return

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March 21, 2012: Carlos Tevez seals a fairytale return by leading City to an important win over Chelsea.

After spending most of the season on the golf course in Argentina, Tevez found himself back in Manchester and back in Mancini’s plans.

While he was inevitably lacking in match fitness, his undisputed quality was always going to help City’s title chase.

And so it proved, when Tevez came on 24 minutes from time and set up Samir Nasri’s winning goal in the 85th minute.

Derby Double

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April 30, 2012: City reignite the title race by completing a league double over United.

Tevez’s return against Chelsea was important enough, but the defining result in this season’s title race was City’s 1-0 home win against United.

City had cut an eight-point gap to only three by late April, but they still needed to overcome that difference by beating the then-league leaders at home.

United’s response was a defensive European setup, which City gleefully took to their advantage in a show of dominance on the pitch.

Club captain Vincent Kompany powered the all-important header to swing the momentum back to the Blue half of Manchester.

Penultimate Success

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May 6: 2012: Yaya Toure justifies his wages and transfer fee with a powerful performance in City’s penultimate league game.

As Mancini always maintained in the buildup to May 6, the away trip to Newcastle was always going to be the most important in the end-of-season run-in.

Newcastle had been flying with their own mission to accomplish, but City paid no attention as Yaya Toure proved the difference with a commanding two-goal performance.

Stuff of Legend

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May 13, 2012: The most dramatic finale there will ever be to any title race.

Pablo Zabaleta.

Djibril Cisse.

Joey Barton.

Jamie Mackie.

Edin Dzeko.

United win.

Sergio Aguero.

 

What were your greatest moments from City’s season? Let us know in the comments below.

 

If you liked this article, you might also be interested in 5 Positions City Must Strengthen This Summer. Stay tuned for extensive Euro 2012 coverage on my Bleacher Report writer’s profile, and please check out my blog, The Red Armchair, for Liverpool opinions and match reactions.