Character is not a word often associated with Manchester City. So smooth, so serene is the machine Guardiola has crafted in his six year...
Character is not a word often associated with Manchester City. So smooth, so serene is the machine Guardiola has crafted in his six years with City that he rarely has to draw on his reserves of grit, grit and resilience. Most of the time, the unrivaled technique and talent at Guardiola’s disposal is more than enough.
But with his season collapsing and only 15 minutes to save him, that’s precisely what carried City through, just as it saw Guardiola’s side salvage a point at West Ham last week: his ability to remain cool and collected under the most intense pressure. . It’s not an easy thing to capture in a statue, but if anyone wants to try, the work should probably depict Rodri, the goal scorer who drew City level.
When the ball arrived at his feet, just steps from the penalty area, the Etihad were in an uproar. Ilkay Gundogan had scored around two minutes earlier, heading home with a Raheem Sterling cross, but time was running out and City needed to score – to be sure – not once, but twice. Rodri, however, seemed perfectly calm.
As the ball rolled towards him, he formed as if to hit it as hard as he could; it would be the surest way to beat Robin Olsen, the Villa goalkeeper, after all. In the blink of an eye, however, he changed his mind. He had spotted a gap. He shifted his weight slightly and flicked the ball – not gently, but with deliberate care – into the bottom corner, past Olsen’s outstretched arm.
Three minutes later, Gundogan had scored again – another candidate for that statue, if anyone’s in the market – and the Etihad was shaking and shaking, and the club, its players, staff and fans, felt at this feeling again, the one he thought he could only enjoy once in his life.
Within five minutes, City had turned their desperation into something raw, urgent and delirious. It wasn’t quite the same as Agüero’s decisive strike 10 years ago, what City fans now simply call ’93:20′, but it wasn’t a pale imitation either. , an ersatz version. It was something close to an equivalent, and it was more than enough.
When, a few minutes later, the final whistle sounded, Guardiola’s eyes had filled with tears. Liverpool had won too, but that didn’t matter. Despite all the stress and tension, maybe it’s better this way. Maybe it’s easier to analyze how much something means when it’s almost been ripped off.
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