Entering the penultimate round of the English Premier League, Manchester City found themselves in the driving seat in the race for the title with cross town rivals Manchester United.
City found themselves level on points with United following their 1-0 Monday-night derby win. They also have a superior goal difference to boast.
It meant that City’s match at Newcastle was seen as the final test in deciding whether the EPL title would end up in the blue or red half of Manchester.
Newcastle’s form has been outstanding over the the past two months, as they’ve comfortably leap-frogged Chelsea on the table and are now seriously challenging for Champions League football next season.
In front of a raucous Geordie crowd at the Sports Director Arena, it was always going to be tough for City to break down the stubborn Newcastle defence.
Adding to the difficult nature of their task was the unpredictable nature of Newcastle’s front line, which included Demba Ba, Hatem Ben Arfa and the in-form Papiss Demba Cisse.
The first half highlighted that it wasn’t going to be easy for City.
Despite dominating possession they failed to create many clear cut chances, with Gareth Barry coming closest with a shot that was cleared off the line.
With a half of football left for City to find the breakthrough, the burning question was: who was going to step up and deliver their first title since 1968?
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. That man was Yaya Toure.
Having signed for 24-million pounds from Barcelona in the European summer of 2010, Toure has blossomed under Roberto Mancini and has been the driving force behind City’s title-challenge this season.
His two goals in the last 20 minutes of the match were expertly finished and the timing couldn’t have been any better for Ivorian.
His first, on 70 minutes, was terrifically placed into the corner. It was a goal his former teammate Lionel Messi would have been proud of.
The second, two minutes from time, was the composed finished that had escaped Sergio Agüero moments earlier.
Goals haven’t been a regular occurrence for Toure this season, but to cap off his consistently accomplished all-round midfield displays with two goals shows just how exceptionally talented he is.
With all the big-money that City have spent over the past four seasons, the ingenious signing of Yaya Toure is rapidly becoming the best of the lot.
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