Rob Pollard: Ilkay Gundogan v Manchester United
If a goal ever summed a side up, it was our third in the 3-1 win over Manchester United in November.
United, collectively dead on their feet after a masterclass from City, couldn’t get near us. We strung 44 passes together, toying with our rivals and moving them all over the pitch. It was all one and two-touch football, beautifully crafted and a joy to watch.
It ended with a brilliant pass into the area from Bernardo Silva, who found Ilkay Gundogan alone a few yards from goal. He took a touch to kill it before firing past David De Gea.
It took one minute and 55 seconds – 2.13% of the entire game – for City to complete the move.
World-class football from start to finish.
David Clayton: Vincent Kompany v Leicester City
‘Don’t shoot, Vinnie!’ Three words that will never be forgotten by City fans and for good reason.
The final games of the season were, at times, hard to watch.
There was so much at stake and as each game passed and Liverpool kept getting over the line, it seemed obvious that if either side dropped any points, that would be it.
So, 70 minutes in from the penultimate game of the season, captain Vincent Kompany finds himself midway through the Leicester half.
The Foxes had defended well and had restricted City to one or two half-chances, so when the skipper looked up and saw all his options restricted, he thought, ‘Why not?’
It’s fair to say that once everybody realised what was about to happen, the people in the North Stand Row Z started to crouch down – that’s not being disrespectful to Vinnie, just he hadn’t scored all season and never scored from outside the box.
Sergio Aguero later said he was shouting ‘Don’t shoot, Vinnie’, but as the Belgian nudged the ball forward a few feet, it was clear that was exactly what he was going to do.
In a moment that will be etched in the memories of all those who witnessed it, Kompany struck the ball with all his considerable might – so much so both feet were off the floor as he struck it – and the rest, as they say is history.
What a goal. What a player. What a moment.
Caroline Oatway: Caroline Weir v Bristol City
A moment of Cup magic, courtesy of a piece of individual brilliance – and the perfect way to open your City account!
When Caroline Weir joined the Club in the summer of 2018, she brought with her a reputation as a scorer of stunning goals. My, how she vindicated it!
En route to lifting our second Continental Cup, the Scot netted her first goal in sky blue in magnificent fashion in a 3-0 triumph at Bristol City.
Nick Cushing’s side had already gained a two-goal advantage when Weir added the icing to the cake, opting to try her luck from distance.
No fewer than 30-yards out, the midfielder took a touch to create a yard of space before arrowing an unstoppable effort into the top corner to cap a fantastic display and spark jubilant scenes.
Stupendous!
John Edwards: Riyad Mahrez v Brighton and Hove Albion
Brighton ‘keeper Mat Ryan may have got a hand to it, but that takes none of the shine off this goal because there was so much more to it than one emphatic swing of the right boot.
The dummy, for a start.
Shaping to shoot, Mahrez was coolness personified to leave Lewis Dunk on the seat of his pants, manoeuvring the ball from left to right to give himself time to pick his spot.
And from there, on his less favoured right foot it should be said, the Algerian drove the ball into the top right corner at such pace, Ryan’s outstretched palm could do nothing to prevent it hitting the back of the net.
It was a fine strike, but though aesthetically pleasing and layered with technical brilliance, the significance was also hugely important.
This was a goal that calmed the nerves on a day which had the potential to leave fans biting their fingernails.
It was a tense opening 45 minutes for the eventual champions and a 2-1 lead at the break did nothing to change that.
But this strike, with 27 minutes left on the clock went some way to ease the tension as Pep Guardiola’s side motored to a comfortable, title-clinching victory.
Neil Leigh: Raheem Sterling v Arsenal
There’s nothing like starting as you mean to go on and City’s first goal in the opening game of our Premier League title defence spoke volumes about the defending champions’ intent.
A tough first-day assignment away at an Arsenal side rejuvenated by the appointment of Unai Emery as manager, allied to the demands of a draining World Cup finals on several members of Pep Guardiola’s squad had led many to view a trip to the Emirates with more than a hint of trepidation.
Instead, City fired out an instant reminder of the quality and commitment to attacking football that had helped rewrite the record books the previous season.
And it was perfectly exemplified by Raheem Sterling’s quite brilliant opening goal in North London.
Receiving the ball from Benjamin Mendy early in the first half, Sterling coolly drifted inside three Arsenal defenders before superbly despatching the ball past Petr Cech and inside the right-hand post
It was a goal that not only reminded the rest of the league of City’s deft artistic brush strokes but which also served as a telling illustration of the squad’s collective desire to kick-on and seek to attain even greater heights.
And it also proved to be just the opening shot in what was an extraordinary season for Sterling who emerged as a pivotal figure in City’s record-breaking season, a campaign which saw him deservedly voted both PFA Young Player of the Year and the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year.
What a way to kick-off the new season!
