On 13 May 2012, Manchester City played Queens Park Rangers (QPR) at the Etihad Stadium in both teams' 38th and final match of the 2011–12 Premier League season. City entered the match in first place on goal difference, being level on 86 points with local rivals Manchester United, and needed to match or better United's result at Sunderland at the Stadium of Light to win the league. Meanwhile, QPR entered the match one spot above the relegation zone, knowing that a draw would secure safety at the expense of Bolton Wanderers. City won the match and the league title in dramatic fashion, reversing a 2–1 deficit by scoring two goals within 2 minutes and 5 seconds during stoppage time (1:15 to 3:20), with the winner being famously scored by Sergio Agüero 100 seconds from the final whistle, to clinch their first league title since the 1967–68 season, where they also pipped United on the final day. The win began a period of dominance in English football for City, with the club winning seven more Premier League titles over the subsequent 14 years.
The match, and more specifically, the final goal of the match, has repeatedly been described as the greatest moment in Premier League history. The terms "93:20" and "AGÜEROOOOOO!!!" have entered Manchester City folklore as a result, the former describing the exact second of the match at which point the final goal was scored, while the latter was Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler's live response to the goal.
Background Manchester City + League position going into the final game of the season Pos Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts 1 Manchester City 37 27 5 5 90 27 63 86 2 Manchester United 37 27 5 5 88 33 55 86 3 Arsenal 37 20 7 10 71 47 24 67 4 Tottenham Hotspur 37 19 9 9 64 41 23 66 5 Newcastle United 37 19 8 10 55 48 7 65
Throughout their history, Manchester City and Manchester United had been continued rivals, with their sparring becoming particularly relevant during the 1960s and early 1970s when Manchester was known as 'The Capital of English Football, but while United entered a period of unprecedented success during the 1990s under the leadership of Alex Ferguson, City instead struggled and spent several seasons in the same period battling in the second and third divisions. Nonetheless, after a takeover by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi royal family City's fortunes turned around, and over the course of several seasons they built a team capable of challenging for a title for the first time since the 1970s.
With the rivalry between the two clubs heating up once more, Ferguson, sensing the growing threat of City, provided a series of soundbites in response to press questions, describing City as "noisy neighbours" following a match between the two teams in 2009 which had finished 4–3 in United's favour, and dismissing their potential to challenge United's supremacy with the words "not in my lifetime". Going into the 2011–12 season, many pundits had continued to pick United as probable league winners, though the traditional gap between the two clubs was considered to have shrunk considerably after City had knocked United out in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on their way to winning their first trophy in 35 years plus qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the Premier League era in the previous season. Both teams matched each other for results in the early rounds, but in the first Manchester derby of the season City caused a shock by beating United 6–1 at Old Trafford, equalling the record largest victory in a match between the two. After that match City took a 5-point lead at the top of the table, but occasional poor results led to United resuming first place in March.
Following this loss of place City's belief seemed to take a dip and their resulting bad form over the next four matches ended up with United leading the table by eight points with only six games each left to play. Having taken this lead, though, the two clubs seemed to trade form, with United suffering several poor results compared to City's straight victories, and a 1–0 home victory in the second derby of the season put the two clubs level on points going into May. Going into the final game of the season on 13 May, both teams were tied at the top of the table, with an identical record of 86 points, 27 games won, 5 drawn, 5 lost and all teams with 37 matches played. However, City were leading the table with a goal difference of eight goals better than United, meaning that City needed only to win, match United's result, or a United loss to win the league, with a victory likely to be enough to make sure of the result. City played at home against a Queens Park Rangers side still under threat of relegation, while United travelled to the Stadium of Light to play Sunderland, who were safe in mid-table and with no chance of European qualification remaining. Under the circumstances, both teams were expected to win their matches.
Adding to the atmosphere of the match for City was the fact that lining up for their opponents were several of their former players in Nedum Onuoha, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joey Barton. QPR were also managed by Mark Hughes, who had been sacked by City two years previously.
Queens Park Rangers + League position going into the final game of the season Pos Team Pld W D L F A GD Pts 15 Wigan Athletic 37 10 10 17 39 60 −20 40 16 Aston Villa 37 7 17 13 37 51 −14 38 17 Queens Park Rangers 37 10 7 20 41 63 –22 37 18 Bolton Wanderers 37 10 5 22 44 75 −31 35 R Blackburn Rovers 37 8 7 22 47 76 −29 31
In their early history Queens Park Rangers had been a traditional lower-league side, joining the Football League in 1920 and spending almost all of the next 50 years in the third tier. In the late 60s, however, the club experienced a change of fortune as they won back-to-back promotions to reach the Football League Division One – the predecessor to the Premier League – as well as triumphing in the 1967 Football League Cup Final to win their first major silverware. Though they were relegated in their first season at the top of the English football league system they returned again in 1983 and managed this time to stay for a total of 13 seasons, becoming Premier League founder members in the process.
After relegation in 1996 they again found themselves battling in the lower divisions, as well as fighting financial difficulties. The investment of billionaires Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Lakshmi Mittal in the late 2000s finally gave them firm financial footing, and by 2011 they were back in the Premier League.
Since their last stay in the Premier League, the financial implications of relegation had become much more severe, making relegation a fate to be avoided at all costs. In pre-season, QPR had been tipped to be relegated at the first time of asking by many pundits, and the club were taken over by Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes in mid-August. A good run of results in the early months of the year put Rangers firmly mid-table but results tailed off in late 2011 and by the end of the year they were barely above the relegation zone leading to the sacking of manager Neil Warnock on 8 January 2012, being replaced by Mark Hughes who achieved his first victory two weeks later against fellow relegation candidates Wigan Athletic. Hughes would have to wait exactly two months for his second victory – a 3–2 win over Liverpool on 21 March – which sparked a run of five wins in nine games. QPR went into the final game of the season only two points above safety, knowing that they needed to take at least one point from their final match, or for rivals Bolton fail to win, in order to guarantee their survival.
Match Team selection City had a full-strength squad to select from, with the only player missing through injury being Owen Hargreaves. QPR had been without both Kieron Dyer (foot) and Alejandro Faurlín (knee) since August, while Ákos Buzsáky (hamstring), Shaun Derry (thigh), Samba Diakité (illness), and Heidar Helguson (groin) were all doubts for Hughes' team.
Summary First half The game kicked off at 15:00BST in front of a crowd of 48,000 at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, in addition to a peak audience of more than three million viewers on Sky Sports. City started strongest, with Samir Nasri narrowly missing out on a tap-in in the 15th minute after Paddy Kenny recovered his own fumbled catch, and a minute later David Silva hit a low shot straight into Kenny's arms. City defender Pablo Zabaleta opened the scoring in the 39th minute; having failed to find Carlos Tevez with a low cross, Zabaleta chose instead to make his own run into the box. Quickly closed down by both Clint Hill and Taye Taiwo, Zabaleta opted for a shot on goal; QPR goalkeeper Kenny got both hands to it but could only palm the ball over his head and onto the far post, where it rebounded in to give Zabaleta his only goal of the season. In the buildup to the opening goal, City midfielder Yaya Touré picked up an injury and was replaced just before half-time by Nigel de Jong.
At the break, with City leading 1–0 and Bolton winning 2–1 against Stoke City, QPR were in a position to be relegated while City would win the title. Wayne Rooney's goal in the 20th minute of United's match against Sunderland meant that City needed to stay in the lead throughout the second half to be crowned champions.
Second half QPR equalised three minutes into the second half when Djibril Cissé ran onto a miscontrolled defensive header by Joleon Lescott, entering the penalty area and shooting past Joe Hart at the first touch. Seven minutes later QPR were reduced to ten men when Joey Barton appeared to elbow Carlos Tevez off the ball and was shown a straight red card by referee Mike Dean. Walking away from Dean, Barton then walked up behind Sergio Agüero and kneed him in the back of the leg before attempting to headbutt Vincent Kompany in the ensuing melee. Needing to be escorted off the pitch by former teammate Micah Richards, Barton made a further attempt at starting a fight with Mario Balotelli before he could be sent down the tunnel.
Despite being a player down, QPR scored again in the 66th minute when a looped cross from Armand Traoré found Jamie Mackie unmarked to head in past Hart. City responded to the scoreline with a period of sustained attacking pressure. In the 72nd minute, Kenny tipped a Tevez header onto the bar from one corner before unconvincing defending for the second corner led to a shot by Zabaleta which ricocheted through the penalty area. In the 78th minute, Agüero salvaged a ball on the goal line to allow Edin Džeko a shot to the near corner which Kenny kept out with the toe of his boot. The following minute, Balotelli, a recent substitute coming on for Tevez, hit a powerful shot straight at Kenny. During a series of four corners in short succession, a diving save by Kenny was needed to stop Mario Balotelli header's from going in at the top corner.
At the end of regulation time, City still needed to score two more goals to win the league title. A 77th-minute equaliser for Stoke in their match against Bolton meant that QPR were heading closer to safety. Five minutes of injury time were added on to the end of the game, with City continuing to exert pressure. In the second of those minutes substitute Džeko equalised, powering a header past the goalkeeper from an in-swinging Silva corner – City's 18th of the match.