A familiar face for City fans, Matias Bonanno represented City for the third successive campaign and was paired up with Jafonso for his debut season in the ePL.
The duo lifted the coveted trophy at Media City, Salford on Sunday evening in what was another historic year for the Club’s esports team who have become the only organisation to win the ePremier League four times.
Our route to the final began with a quarter-final clash with Nottingham Forest.
And the opening match-up between Bonanno and MichaelFisherFC was a tense affair.
The City pro found himself 1-0 down and with work to do if he wanted to give his new duo Joao the upper hand for the second leg.
And the two-time ePremier League champion showcased experience and composure as he found two second half goals to win 2-1 and a provide Joao with a slither of breathing room.
The new City recruit made easy work of his match, quickly finding himself 4-0 up at the break before the full-time score of Joao’s game against SamBrwster ending 5-2 and in turn City progressed to the semi-finals with an aggregate score of 7-3.
In the semi-finals Mati again played first as he took on familiar rival Marley who he beat in the past two ePremier League Finals.
Bonanno was patient and looked to only attack in the right moments and it paid off when he took a two-goal lead into the break.
Mati continued to pile on the pressure in what was an unbelievable performance in the second half as the Argentine got a well-deserved 5-0 triumph over Marley.
The impressive aggregate allowed Joao to play freely with the Portuguese looking right at home on the ePrem stage.
It was another clinical performance from Jafonso who won his leg against TomLeese 6-1 for a combined full-time score of 11-1 with just the final left to play.
It was a fairytale storyline when Leeds United secured their place in the final, which meant Mati and former Blue Tekkz would go head-to-head.
But first, Joao faced Niksneb. The City pro took a 2-0 lead before 25 minutes, but Niksneb fought hard to make it 2-2 at the break.
Despite pressure from Leeds, Joao defended valiantly before being rewarded with a third to confirm a 3-2 win.
Still all to play for in the second leg, two ePremier League titans took centre stage.
Tekkz broke the deadlock before adding an early second half second to make it 4-3 on aggregate in favour of Leeds.
Mati had an almost immediate response to level the score at 4-4 with just under 30 minutes to play.
It was end-to-end stuff but once again Tekkz went ahead. Mati still had plenty of energy to find another response to make it 5-5 and as a result, the game went to extra-time.
For a third time Tekkz took advantage but Mati proved an immense force that would not be broken as we entered the second half of extra-time on 6-6.
Finally, Mati went ahead with a quick, clinical counter for 7-6 and found an emphatic eighth on aggregate that sent the City bench crazy in celebrations to claim a third successive ePremier League title for the Club.
The win is not just historic for City, but also for Bonanno who has become the first pro player ever to win the ePremier League in three successive campaigns.
He is now level for the most English titles alongside former Blue Tekkz, who won two ePremier Leagues with City and one with Liverpool.
And for Joao, he carves history for himself, becoming the first Portuguese to lift the ePremier League title in his debut outing in England.
Our place in the eChampions League and two seats at the FC Pro World Championships at the Esports World Cup are also secured as Bonanno and Jafonso now turn our attention to the international stage.
Everyone at Manchester City would like to congratulate Mati and Joao on our historic triumph!
