Fine margins decide the Premier League

So Manchester City triumphed in the epic Premier League title battle. It came down to very fine margins indeed. OK, City closed it out comfortably at Brighton after it briefly looked as if things could get interesting. But over the season you couldn't put the proverbial cigarette paper between the teams.

After a season with many twists - and Liverpool riding quite a bit of luck at home against Everton with their crazy last minute winner as well as the fortunate own goal rebound  that gave them another late winner at home against Spurs - I'm left with two decisive moments, both of them featuring City captain Vincent Kompany.

In City's penultimate game at home against Leicester City the visitors played well, defending with determination and breaking occasionally with menace, preventing City from piling on too much pressure. Just when it began to look as if City could drop points likely to be decisive, Kompany scored a screamer, his first ever Premier League goal from outside the penalty area, with team mate Bernardo Silva amongst those who later admitted they were telling him not to shoot. As Kompany strode forward he looked up and clearly thought about a shot before taking another couple of paces and unleashing his unstoppable shot, launching himself at the ball with both feet off the ground at the point of delivery. It is a matter of record that I am not a Man City fan and it wouldn't take you long to guess that I was screaming at the two nearest Leicester defenders to close him down the first time he thought about hitting it. I would hope Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel was doing the same - my old goalkeeper mate Herbie would certainly have been bellowing at his defenders. My guess is that, had either of the Leicester players launched themselves in Kompany's direction, his shot would have gone safely over or wide.

Most centre-backs have a kick like a mule and, even if they've never scored from range, if you give them a clear sight of goal they are clearly capable of doing everything but take the net off. But also most centre-backs don't keep their composure when shooting under any pressure. There is usually not much risk, other than getting struck by a hard hit shot, in defenders rushing at other defenders shaping to shoot. I used to berate colleagues who I thought hadn't put their body on the line as the phrase goes by saying "whoever got killed by a football?"  I do have a lot of broken veins on my legs, mind, which I attribute to the impact of fast moving footballs but as I'm not an oil painting I have no regrets about that.

I say there's not much risk if you rush a defender. Yes, if the man on the ball is a magician like say, Messi or, ok, David Silva the risk is that rushing at him leaves you flat on your back from a dummy or a canny pass being slipped through behind you. But in the limit you shouldn't stand off any player who is shaping to shoot. And it wasn't Messi or Silva, it was Kompany. As it turned out, in that moment, the league title was effectively decided.

Or was it? In the end the difference between the two teams could be argued to be City's win over Liverpool at the Etihad in January, the Kopites only league defeat of the season. Until then Liverpool were 7 points clear. When Kompany brought down Mo Salah in the first half with the score goal-less there was a clear case for a red card. Yes, it was a long way out, maybe 40 yards. And other City defenders were roughly level with Kompany. But Salah is a speed merchant and was "on his bike", as the saying goes. I believe Anthony Taylor's decision of a yellow card proved material in the title race. I wasn't the only one who thought there was no chance Salah would be caught by the other defenders: Jurgen Klopp asked later "how on earth is that not a red card?" City went on to win 2-0 but at that point in the game Liverpool were well on top and most bookies would have given you great odds against City winning with 10 men from there.

Of course, I've often described Kompany as "a red card waiting to happen" and it very nearly happened in the key game against Leicester as well, Kompany unleashing one of his trademark lunges to miss the ball by a mile a take out Jamie Vardy, again with the score goalless. I thought this one was a yellow but I don't think City fans could have complained had it been red, as Kompany could (in my book should) have attracted many more red cards over his career.

The other area of fine margins that proved decisive were John Stones's goal-line clearance at 0-0 in the Etihad game against Liverpool: VAR showed it was less than 12mm from being a goal. While, in their 1-0 win at Burnley, Sergio Aguero's goal was also shown by VAR to be just 29mm over the line.

You can't get much finer than that.

So it was an enthralling title race, albeit difficult for me as it left me choosing between my least favourite football team (Man City) and effectively the anti-Christ (Liverpool FC). In the end, whatever I think of them, City's run of 18 wins in their last 19 games, many of them played under the pressure of Liverpool having won their match with the weekend games being staggered for TV, made them worthy champions. Though either team in this case were "worthy".

As for goal of the season, for me that wasn't Kompany's strike against Leicester. Liverpool's winning fourth goal in their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, stemming from the audacious corner taken by Terence Trent D'Arby (or something like that) wins that plaudit from me. Young Trent's quick thinking, elegant deception and outstanding execution, turning and striking the ball accurately without pause for balance or more than a glance at his target, the woefully unmarked striker Origi, was truly outstanding. We see fabulous strikes from distance almost as a matter of routine. Both goals had the merit of being scored in high pressure situations with much at stake. But Alexander Arnold's assist was highly unusual, at least outside of playground games between the sassy, streetwise kids and the wet behind the ears innocents. Liverpool made Barcelona, with all their experience, look like naive schoolboys. Mind, I was trained that, even if it looks like the corner, throw-in or whatever isn't about to be taken, go and mark your man NOW while it's easy and then it's so much easier to keep him marked when the action starts.

I'm now left feeling that Liverpool richly deserve something from this season and so I guess I have to shout for them in their Champions League final against Spurs (I still tend to call it the European Cup, after all neither Liverpool nor Spurs are "champions"). I've nothing against Spurs, but it wouldn't seem right for Liverpool to go without a trophy after the way they have performed. I would have said the same about City, by the way. I think.