Roberto Mancini was "insulting his own players" before Manchester City's iconic late show in 2012 that won them the Premier League.
Those on the blue half of Manchester looked set to gift wrap the title to their neighbours and arch rivals Manchester United, who won at Sunderland on the final day of the season. City only needed to beat QPR, who hadn't won on the road all season, but were fighting relegation themselves.
Mancini hadn't seen his side lose at the Etihad but with minutes to go they were still 2-1 down. Frustration and anger inside the stadium was building and the Italian on the touchline was lamenting his own players, according to QPR player Nedum Onuoha.
“Just before they scored their second goal, I’ll never forget Mancini was on the sideline and he’d completely lost the plot,” Onuoha told Planet Football. “He was cursing his players, he was insulting them, he was doing everything. The place was wild. The pressure in the stadium was as high as I’ve seen anywhere, in any game. It was chaotic.
“After they scored the third, I thought we were down. I realised we weren’t down when, five seconds after I had my hands on my head, I looked up at our fans and they were celebrating in the far stand. I took a breath in, I looked around and saw every single person in the stadium celebrating. I thought, ‘This is a moment which I don’t think will ever be replicated'.”
Mancini's frustration would turn into joy within minutes. Edin Dzeko headed home to make it 2-2. Sergio Aguero then scored arguably the most famous goal in English top flight history, smashing past Paddy Kenny to seal a first Premier League title for City.
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Those on the blue half have enjoyed dominance over their red rivals since, winning four more Premier Leagues. Wayne Rooney was part of the United side who were pipped at the line and he commented recently that the manner of City's win should be under more scrutiny.
"Paddy Kenny should have done better for a couple of the goals," Rooney told The Sun . "City get the second goal and QPR kick it straight back to them and that's never been questioned - I find that strange.
"Djibril Cisse celebrating after the game with the City players, but yeah listen it's a historic moment in the Premier League so I'm sure that - if you are not involved as a Manchester United player, that's probably one of the greatest moments in the league."
