Manchester United were denied the Premier League title in the final
minute of the season by Manchester City despite a 1-0 win over
Sunderland.
United began the day knowing that even victory would
not guarantee them an historic and dramatic title triumph, but they had
to secure a win to even stand a chance and Wayne Rooney duly delivered
by nodding home a Phil Jones centre in the 20th minute.
With
chances at a premium, though, United comfortably closed the game out in
the second half, with Sunderland rarely ever looking like scoring.
As
the final whistle went, the events at the Etihad Stadium began to come
to light with the astonishing news that Sergio Aguero had struck a
sensational last-minute winner to snatch the title right out of United’s
grasp.
With a raucous atmosphere at the Stadium of Light, United
began to establish their supremacy by dominating possession in midfield
and they took the lead in the 20th minute to keep their slim title hopes
alive, after Rooney nodded in unmarked at the back post.
With the
game becoming increasingly open, Ryan Giggs forced Simon Mignolet into a
smart stop in the 27th minute before Rooney went fractionally wide with
a free-kick from the edge of the box.
Moments later, Fraizer
Campbell went close after volleying over inside the box on the stretch
after latching onto a lofted through ball from Stephane Sessegnon.
The
issue of United’s profligacy in front of goal reared its ugly head
again in the 37th minute when Rooney somehow failed to make contact on a
scuffed Ashley Young shot at the far post, and Sir Alex Ferguson’s side
had to settle with just a one-goal lead at the break.
United
raced out of the traps in the second half, with Mignolet saving
brilliantly at point-blank range from Rooney after being put through by
Young before Jones nodded narrowly wide from a Young free-kick from deep
on the left.
The home side responded in kind, though, and went
close through both Sessegnon and Phil Bardsley with shots from outside
the area as they rallied after surviving United’s decent spell going
forward at the beginning of the half.
With news of QPR having
taken the lead filtering around the ground, United went close to
doubling their lead in the 76th minute when Scholes struck the post from
outside the box before Mignolet acrobatically tipped Giggs’ follow-up
effort over the bar.
With the clock ticking down and nerves
jangling in the stands and out on the pitch, Rooney clipped the post
with a free-kick from outside the box in the 89th minute.
As
referee Howard Webb brought an end to proceedings, and the United
players began to applaud the away support believing they had secured the
title, a quite simply unbelievable turn of events at City meant that
Ferguson’s charges had come up frustratingly short in their bid for the
title, losing out to their noisy neighbours.
