It was the moment Manchester City had craved for longer than they will care to remember, the day they could release all that pent-up frustration. The long, sometimes soul-destroying wait for a trophy is finally over, at the expense of Stoke City. Roberto Mancini has come through with his promise to change the club's history and, from here, his club can surely now look forward to a future in which they could one day have the keys to the football universe.
The club have loftier ambitions but, for now, it is difficult to understate the sheer importance of Yaya Touré's winning goal in the evolving process that, one day, those faraway men in Abu Dhabi, sitting on a 10th of the planet's oil reserves, fully intend for this kind of euphoria to become the norm rather than the exception.
That, however, is for the future, whereas City will want to bask in the glory first. This was their first trophy since the League Cup in 1976, when thousands of the supporters who had travelled to Wembley were not even born. The infamous banner – "35 Years" – at Old Trafford that mocks their lack of silverware will surely have to come down now and, on the balance of play, there was no argument about them deserving to beat a Stoke side that threatened only sporadically.
Thomas Sorensen had been Stoke's best player for long spells, particularly in the first half, with a series of outstanding saves. Tony Pulis's side had a brief flurry at the start of the second half and will reflect on the chance, after 61 minutes, when Kenwyne Jones ran clear only to be thwarted by Joe Hart.
Overall, however, City were the dominant team, culminating in the game's decisive moment when David Silva and Mario Balotelli exchanged passes inside the penalty area, the defender Marc Wilson could not enough on his clearance and when the ball fell invitingly for Yaya Touré he went for power and lashed his shot past Sorensen. A seminal moment in the history of this old club.
Source: Guardian
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