Fans at The theater of dreams almost saw the unreal dream of the record 20th league title come true right before being awoken by the late strikes of Edin Djeko and Sergio Aguero. Those five minutes of football could well be magnified to sum up the tumultuous season of the Barclays Premier League, which saw the table being led by a seesaw of two teams, one side of which was Blue, and the other, Red.
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Dubbed as the most enthralling season of the league ever, there wasn’t room for any more drama to prove otherwise. There was literally everything. From a 6-1 thrashing of Man United at Old Trafford at the hands of the Noisy Neighbours, the brilliance of Newcastle, the failure of Kenny Dalglish to restore the Reds’ pride, to the late resurgence of Wigan, avoiding relegation in a comfortable and eyebrow-raising fashion.
Roman Abramovich continued to display his inclination towards fresh managers, while up north, the Gunners finished strong at third, spearheaded by the top goal scorer in Robin Van Persie.
For many though, the highlight of the season was the expletive-rich stand off between SAF and Mancini during the return leg of the Manchester derby.
When talking about individual performances, a few stood out more than others.
Pappis Demba Cisse and Nikica Jelavic were the players causing the biggest impact for their respective teams (Newcastle and Everton). Other candidates deserving a mention are Moussa Dembele, Vincent Company, Chiek Tiote and Wayne Rooney.
The BPL also saw it’s dark hours and fair share of controversy as Liverpool‘s Luis Suarez was accused and subsequently suspended for 9 matches for allegedly racially abusing Patrice Evra. Furthermore, Suarez’s refusal to shake Evra’s hand pre-match and the not-so-subtle celebrations by Evra in front of Suarez added fuel to the fire, the consequence of which was the undermining of the spirit of football.
Blackburn Rovers were unfortunate to get relegated despite the devotion of their boss Steve Kean. A failed bid to sign Ronaldinho, a failed promise of Champion’s League qualification and failure to stay in the top flight renders failure was the only word fitting to describe the Venky’s reign at Blackburn.
Moving over to the success story of the premier league, Man City manager Roberto Mancini has well justified the spending of hundreds of millions. They built a quality team and at the end of the day, delivered. City are in the reckoning for a long stint at the top here on.
The fact that despite all the coin spent, they could beat Manchester United‘s weakest team in a while only on goal difference, speaks volumes of the amazing managerial abilities of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Man Utd were never far behind in spite of their injury concerns and lack of a regular back four. Despite that they did ever so well to produce results week after week, un-intimidated by the big names being housed by their rivals City.
The top of the table was a boxing match, blue shorts in one corner and red in the opposite. It went a full 12 rounds. In the end, it was decided by the number of blows delivered to the opponent rather than by knock-out. Man City undoubtedly and deservingly lifted the trophy but football was the winner. The winner of hearts, emotions and respect.
