Reliving the pain: A United fan’s recount of the most dramatic finish in English Premier League history.

It’s been a few days now, enough time to have had the chance to reflect and attempt to come to terms with what happened between the approximate times of 1.55am and 2.00am Monday morning here in Melbourne. Most football fans will know exactly what I’m referring to but for those oblivious to the charms of the “World Game” as guru Les has befittingly coined it and more specifically the top tier of the sport in England I will painfully (some might say sadistically) re-hash what went down. The reason being that although I’m a diehard fan of the team who eventually had their hearts ripped out, the astonishing crescendo reached that night may never venture as close to fiction again in my lifetime. In any sport.

The race for the 2011/12 English Premier League title had boiled down to the 38th and final round of matches with the two Manchester clubs – United and City – locked on 86 points and everything to play for. City held the advantage via goal differential that barring a freak of nature couldn’t be usurped, so the scenerio was simple for them, win their final match against Queen’s Park Rangers at home and they’d be champions. In fact equalling whatever result United obtained would be enough.

The beauty of the final round is that in order to maintain a level playing field and maximise any potential drama all of the matches are played simultaneously. Of course far more often than not the focus of the final day shifts to the lowest rungs of the table where the fates of the battlers clinging to the financial safety net of TV-money-rich, top tier football are decided. As it happens, Queens Park Rangers were right in the thick of this unenviable mess, facing the fanciful task of improving their atrocious away record in the veritable “house of pain” that is the Etihad Stadium this campaign. City were undefeated there all season, in fact only dropping points on a single occasion (something United did in the previous campaign). Adding another element of spice to this fixture was QPR’s manager Mark Hughes who had been uncerimoniously sacked as City manager in December 2009 and replaced with current head man Roberto Mancini. Hughes also happens to be a Manchester United legend, having played under Sir Alex in the mid 90’s, meaning the incentives for an improbable victory couldn’t have been greater.

For United, another campaign in which they’d been criticised for being inferior to previous incarnations of themselves, yet achieved a points tally that few clubs have ever gotten near seemed to be fizzling out into a disappointing climax. Only 5 weeks earlier with 6 games remaining they’d opened up a commanding 8 point lead at the summit, a position that prompted various betting agencies to pay out on them as champions and Mancini to publicly concede his sides chances of getting up. However after an upset loss at giant killers Wigan and an uncharacteristically sloppy finish to the home game against Everton in which they surrendered a 4-2 lead at the 80 minute mark to draw 4-4 was looking likely to haunt them if they couldn’t hold on. Astonishingly after a lucklustre showing at City where they lost 1-0 it had taken them only 4 games to blow the lead. Perhaps the most bitter pill to swallow was the fact that City’s 6-1 victory way back in October which represented a 10 goal swing in goal difference was now effectively the difference between first and second. United were visiting Sunderland in their season farewell, a club sitting mid table with not a lot to play for in that they were safe from the drop, out of contention for a European place and well adrift of bitter rivals Newcastle.

So dawned the final day in which City were the overwhelming favourites to be crowned champions for the first time in 44 years.

The beauty for sports fans at home on an occasion such as this is that the power of television allows you to choose which of these simultaneous matches you wish to watch and at any time flick between them to check the scores around the grounds. In the case of this see-sawing final day in which the destinies of teams change minute-to-minute I doubt there could ever be a more dramatic example of the rollercoaster of emotion endured by fans in the 90 minutes of a football match. United in real time scored first meaning they were in the position of champions on the live table. City scored just prior to half time putting them back on top at the break. Having gone ahead the likelihood of dropping points to QPR also blew right out. In the minds of the United players and fans, it looked as though the inevitable was well on it’s way.

A few minutes after the commencement of the second half however, the highly improbable happened. QPR scored. Word quickly spread through the United fans in the Stadium of Light, who’d been keeping a close eye on proceedings back in Manchester via radios and smartphones and a roar went up that the United players could only have assumed meant they were back on top. Of course in my loungeroom in Melbourne this was a cue for me to channel down to FoxSports 2 and gleefully enjoy the equaliser that had given us renewed hope. It wasn’t long after returning to the United game however that the commentators informed us that QPR had had a man sent off – Mr Self-Destruction himself Joseph Barton – which sent a surge of frustration through the United army knowing the task of QPR holding out for 35 minutes was going to be hard enough with 11 on the pitch let alone 10. A few minutes later though, the first of 2 miracles occurred. QPR scored again. With 10 men. Away from home. Against the title favourites. The United fans lost their shit. I flicked over and watched the goal being replayed, it was still difficult to believe. All of a sudden with United maintaining a lead over Sunderland it meant City had to score twice to get back in front.

And so the nervousness set in and the clock in the corner of the screen ticked slower and slower. United had squandered numerous opportunities in the first half to put the game to bed early and this continued in the second, painfully leaving the situation in both games on a knife-edge. As the minutes passed I daren’t switch channels to check City’s progress out of fear of jinxing QPR and as long as the United fans at Sunderland remaind stir-free so did I. Towards the end of the 90 the commentators announced there would be 3 minutes of stoppage time in our match and word had it there would be 5 minutes added to City’s. As injury time began I was well and truly dreaming of title number 20. In the 92nd minute of our match, Rio Ferdinand is seen gesturing to the bench, seemingly seeking confirmation that City are still down to which he receives a thumbs up. Moments later though the United fans have their chants interrupted by the news City have pulled back an equaliser. The buffer was gone but surely…they couldn’t score twice in added time…could they? United wrapped up their end of the deal by seeing out the 1-0 result. But now they had to wait for City’s match to end. If QPR could see out the next 2 minutes without conceding, United were champions again. I took a deep breath and switched channel ready to endure what would probably be the longest 2 minutes of my football supporting life. The action was picked up unsurprisingly on the edge of the QPR area where all 10 of their players were camped, the ball found it’s way through to Aguero on the right…my body tensed up as he got it out from his feet and pulled the trigger…it went in…not 5 seconds after I’d changed channel and with what turned out to be the final kick of the season. They’d done the unthinkable. Those c*nts had pulled a United.