Captain Kompany’s screamer takes Man City to touching distance of the Premier League trophy
Vincent Kompany - Man City's captain fantastic does it again
Roll back all those years and head to 2012, you’ll find Vincent Kompany leaping to head the ball into the goal at the Etihad stadium against Manchester United to tilt the title race in favour of Manchester City.
Today, it was a different challenge. Man City went into a crucial game against Leicester City knowing nothing but a win would keep their fate in their own hands on the the final day of the season. The result though was the same – it was their captain fantastic who stepped up and delivered when it mattered the most but in a totally different fashion. Kompany scored a goal of the season contender from outside the box to break Leicester City’s resilient defence giving Kasper Schmeichel absolutely no chance.
Leicester City have been fantastic under Brendan Rodgers and everyone knew this was going to a tough challenge for Man City. With Vardy upfront, Leicester had the pace to hurt Man City if the striker timed his run. Kompany was brilliant through out the game and kept the English striker quiet.
In the other end of the field, Man City simply struggled to create any clear-cut chance to trouble Kasper Schmeichel for the first 30 minutes. Leicester’s organization frustrated the Citizens. Phil Foden and Bernado Silva’s efforts in the first half were comfortably saved by the former Man City keeper.
Sergio Aguero almost scored from a corner by sneaking to the near post and heading the ball into inside of the cross-bar and just when the ball was dropping into the goal, Kasper Schmeichel made a fantastic save to deny the Man City striker. If the ball had gone 25 cms further, the goal would have been given.
Man City started the second half better and played with a faster tempo. Leicester were pressed deep into the own half but with time against their side, there was frustration at the Etihad stadium. Leroy Sane’s introduction in place of Phil Foden was a masterstroke from Pep Guardiola and Man City looked more dangerous but the fear of being caught on the counter should have certainly crossed the minds of Man City fans.
Gundagon tried his luck from just outside the box and his effort missed the target by a few inches. When there were midfielders shouting “don’t shoot”, their skipper defied them by rolling the ball with a couple of touches before unleashing a screamer into the top right corner of Kasper Schmeichel’s goal. No keeper in the world can save that!
The goal is another reminder of why the City fans call their captain ‘Mr. Manchester City’. He steps up when they need him the most and the entire stadium, barring the away fans, sang “Here’s to you, Vincent Kompany. City loves you more than you will know”.
Kelechi Iheanacho had a glorious chance to bite the hands that once fed him but the striker’s shot from inside the box was off-target. The captain won Manchester City their last home game of the season and now, with one more win against Brighton in the last game of the season, they can successfully defend their title and maybe have a party at the beaches a few miles away from the American Express Community Stadium.
Liverpool are playing Wolves at home on the final day and without a slip from Man City, even a win wouldn’t be enough despite scoring 97 points. That’s how good the title race has been and that’s how good Manchester City have been. The defending champions have conceded only 3 times in the last 13 games, winning all of them.
From on the brink of being 10 points below Liverpool to going into the final day of the season on pole position, the Citizens have displayed grit and desire to grind out results in tough games. They did it once again today, thanks to their captain Fantastic.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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