Oh my god. Oh my god that just happened. The most insane five minutes in Premier League history sees Manchester City crowned champions with two goals in stoppage time after trailing by a goal against Queens Park Rangers. If you'd asked at halftime what was going to happen... well, everyone would have said City were winners all the way. Wayne Rooney had put Manchester United 1-0 up against Sunderland with a neat near-post finish, but that result was going to be academic if City won, and they were 1-0 up thanks to a goal by Pablo Zabaleta, and it didn't look like that was under any serious threat.
Manchester City Vs. QPR: Final Score 3-2 City; Hosts Win Title In Insane Game
Then Djibril Cisse took advantage of a moment of lunacy from Joleon Lescott, whose attempted clearance went backwards and straight into the path of the striker. He finished coolly past Joe Hart to make it 1-1. City still must have thought they had a chance to win, especially when QPR captain Joey Barton got sent off for elbowing Carlos Tevez in the head (he kicked out at Sergio Aguero after having already been shown red).
And then QPR scored again! Jamie Mackie’s run went completely untracked as the ten-man Rangers poured forward for the second time all match, and the midfielder sent a tumbling header flying past Hart for an incredibly improbable 2-1 lead. City looked completely out of ideas, and as time ran down the visitors were almost comfortable as aimless crosses and snatched-at shots flew harmlessly past Paddy Kenny’s goal.
There were five minutes of injury time. Five minutes to score twice, because Manchester United were wrapping up their 1-0 win at Sunderland. And then...
Edin Dzeko hasn't done particularly well since his big-money move from Wolfsburg last season, but he was brought in to provide an aerial threat. That move paid off, the big Bosnian heading home from a David Silva corner — just after Mario Balotelli had missed a point-blank header of his own. It was 2-2 with three minutes remaining in the season. Even that should have been enough for United to claim another Premier League win. It wasn't.
It wasn’t because two minutes later Sergio Aguero, fed by Balotelli, managed to skip past Taye Taiwo, settle his feet for a shot from a very acute angle, and blast past Paddy Kenny for a 3-2 lead. The Etihad Stadium went berserk as the Argentine peeled away. The goal would seal the title for City — their first of the Premier League era — and end the most insane title race in recent memory.
Five minutes of injury time were the difference between City being three points behind United and winning the thing on goal difference (64 to 56). Oh my god.
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