With Manchester City having just captured a historic treble, we look at the day that arguably set in motion all of their recent successes, when their first Premier League title win back in 2012 was confirmed.
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Now, we should note that, going into City's final league match against Queens Park Rangers in the 2011/12 season, they had already been crowned champions of England on two previous occasions. Those were in the 1936/37 and 1967/68 campaigns, but ahead of their 13 May, 2012, clash at the Etihad Stadium, they finally had the chance to end a 44-year wait for a league title.
There was added incentive to winning this particular championship, because it would be at the expense of their bitter rivals Manchester United. You see, while the Citizens were on the precipice of ending a barren league title spell, victory away at Sunderland could see United become Premier League winners for the fifth time in six years, because until the aforementioned date, that had been the theme of both clubs for much of their history.
City was a side that would flounder between the various divisions of English football, and would achieve mid-table success at best in the Premier League. United's legacy, on the other hand, was the complete antithesis as they dominated English football for the most part, winning leagues and European Cups, predominately during Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure.
This is why the City faithful were so excited when Sheikh Mansour completed a full takeover of the club in 2008 and began to spend record-setting amounts on players in the hopes of ascending the Premier League.
Gradually, they did, and on the final day of the 2011/12 season, they were 90 minutes away from winning their first-ever EPL title. They had caught up to the Red Devils in the final weeks of the campaign, after Ferguson's side had dropped points to Wigan Athletic and Everton. Couple that with a loss away to their city rivals two weeks before, and both Manchester sides were going into their respective fixtures level on 86 points.
Because Roberto Mancini's men had a better goal difference, all his charges had to do was equal United's result at the Stadium of Light and they would be the fifth different side to call themselves Premier League winners. Things, however, did not get off to a great start for City as Wayne Rooney put the Red Devils ahead 20 minutes into their match against the Black Cats. Pablo Zabaleta would eventually put Mancini's men in the lead against QPR six minutes before half-time.
City's jubilation would not last long, though, as shortly after half-time, QPR striker Djibril Cisse pounced on a Joleon Lescott mistake to level matters. Sensing the angst in the stadium, and fighting for survival themselves, the London outfit then took a surprise lead through Jamie Mackie in the 66th minute, with Citizens now on the cusp of losing their unbeaten home record as well as the league title.
Mancini needed goals, and so came on Edin Dzeko. The 90th minute had arrived and City were still down. That was until the 92nd minute, when the Bosnian headed in a late equaliser, but with United still winning on Tyne Wear, the new contenders needed one more goal, and the clock was ticking.
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Shortly after Dzeko came on, Mancini brought on more firepower in his compatriot Mario Balotelli, and it was the enigmatic Italian striker who, in the 94th minute, played in their most prolific player that season, Sergio Aguero, to net his 23rd of the campaign and win City their first-ever Premier League championship to produce arguably the greatest moment in the league's history and ultimately the precedent-setter for the accomplishments that were to come at the Etihad over the next decade.
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