Aguero's 93:20 goal: how Manchester City won the 2011/12 title

The 93:20 goal matters because it is the only title winner in Premier League history decided on goal difference. When Sergio Aguero scored with 100 seconds of the 2011/12 season left, Manchester City had beaten Queens Park Rangers 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium, finished level on 89 points with Manchester United and won the title on goal difference, +64 to +56. No Premier League season has been settled that way before or since, and the strike itself, timed at 93 minutes 20 seconds, gave the moment its name.

How the final day of 2011/12 was set up

The final round of fixtures kicks off simultaneously, every match at once, which is the Premier League's own rule and the reason two races could run to the last seconds at the same time. Manchester City went into the day top on goal difference, level on 86 points with Manchester United, and needed to match or better whatever United did at Sunderland. Sunderland lost 1-0, Wayne Rooney's header the goal, so for most of the afternoon it looked like the 13th title under Alex Ferguson was secured.

Queens Park Rangers arrived one spot above the relegation zone, knowing a draw would guarantee survival at Bolton's expense. The two races were entangled for ninety minutes. Bolton failed to beat Stoke in a game that ended 2-2, which is the footnote that let QPR survive regardless of what happened in Manchester.

What happened at the Etihad

City were poor for most of the match, and the scoreline flatters the shape of the game. Pablo Zabaleta forced the opener six minutes before half-time, his shot squirming through QPR keeper Paddy Kenny and in off the far post, but that was as good as it got for long spells. Three minutes after the restart Djibril Cisse levelled after Joleon Lescott's header back toward Joe Hart went wrong. In the 55th minute QPR lost Joey Barton to a straight red card for appearing to elbow Carlos Tevez, and Barton then walked up behind Aguero and kneed him in the back of the leg before attempting to headbutt Vincent Kompany, needing to be escorted off the pitch by former teammate Micah Richards.

Ten-man QPR still went ahead. In the 66th minute a cross from substitute Armand Traore found Jamie Mackie at the far post, and his diving header put QPR ahead. City threw everything forward, Dzeko hit a post, Balotelli drew a fine save from Kenny, and the game entered five minutes of stoppage time with the title slipping away.

The 93:20 goal

Edin Dzeko equalised in the second minute of added time. The winner arrived 100 seconds from the final whistle. Aguero passed to Balotelli, who was wrong-footed by a challenge from Anton Ferdinand and fell, but still managed to flick the ball back into Aguero's path with an outstretched leg. Aguero sidestepped a tackle from Taye Taiwo and fired low past Kenny at the near post. Referee Mike Dean cautioned him for taking off his shirt. City fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle; Phil Foden, then 11 years old, was among them, and he made his City debut five and a half years later.

The goal was Aguero's 30th of the season, by general agreement the most important and dramatic of them, and it was the 1,066th goal of the 2011/12 campaign, a Premier League record at the time. Timed at 93 minutes 20 seconds, it became simply "93:20", and Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler's "AGUEROOOOOOO!!!" shout is the soundtrack on every highlight reel since. The match, and the final goal above all, has repeatedly been described as the greatest moment in Premier League history. Aguero's overall record backs the reputation: he finished with 184 Premier League goals, sixth on the all-time scoring list.

The only title decided on goal difference

The deeper reason 93:20 matters is the mathematics behind it. City and United both finished on 89 points, and the title went to the first tiebreaker, goal difference: +64 for City against +56 for United. When points, goal difference and goals scored cannot separate teams, the Premier League tiebreakers go to head-to-head record, and in theory a one-off play-off at a neutral venue could decide a title. That has never happened. 2011/12 was settled by goal difference, and it remains the only season ever to be settled that way.

Seen coldly, the legend outweighs the performance. City overturned an eight-point United lead in the space of five weeks, then needed the final 100 seconds of the final afternoon to finish the job against a side playing with ten men. The 93:20 goal is the most famous stoppage-time strike in the competition's history, but it is also the moment that covers over how close the whole campaign came to unravelling. City did not strangle the title; they rescued it. The final day has never produced drama quite like it.

None of it happens without the signing that summer. Aguero joined from Atletico Madrid in July 2011 for £38 million, then a City club record, eclipsing the £32.5m paid for Robinho in 2008, and scored the goal that justified the fee inside his first season. The win opened the modern City era: the club has won seven more Premier League titles in the 14 seasons since, eight in all, which is why the list of every Premier League winner starts the City chapter at 2011/12. City had waited since the 1967/68 season for that first title, 44 years, and 93:20 is where the wait ended.

FAQ

What happened in the Man City vs QPR 2012 title decider? City won 3-2 with two stoppage-time goals. Zabaleta put them ahead, Cisse and Mackie turned the game around for ten-man QPR, Dzeko equalised in the second minute of added time and Aguero won it 100 seconds from the end.

Why is the goal called 93:20? It is the exact match time, 93 minutes and 20 seconds, at which Aguero scored the winner. Sky commentator Martin Tyler's "AGUEROOOOOOO!!!" call accompanied it.

Did Manchester City win the 2011/12 title on goal difference? Yes. City and Man Utd both finished on 89 points, and City's +64 goal difference beat United's +56. It is the only time the Premier League title has been decided on goal difference.

Who scored for Man City against QPR? Pablo Zabaleta (39 minutes), Edin Dzeko (90+2) and Sergio Aguero (90+4) scored for City. Djibril Cisse (48) and Jamie Mackie (66) scored for QPR, with Joey Barton sent off in the 55th minute.

Key takeaways

• Sergio Aguero scored the winning goal at 93 minutes 20 seconds on 13 May 2012 as Manchester City beat QPR 3-2 to win the 2011/12 title.
• City and Manchester United both finished on 89 points; City took the crown on goal difference, +64 to +56, the only time the title has been decided that way.
• City overturned an eight-point United lead in five weeks, then needed two stoppage-time goals to finish the job against ten-man QPR.
• The goal was Aguero's 30th of the season and the 1,066th of the campaign, at the time a Premier League record for a single season.
• Aguero, signed from Atletico Madrid for £38m in July 2011, began the modern City era with the 93:20 strike: the club has won seven more titles in the 14 seasons since.