Yaya Toure has pinpointed Manchester City?s league ?defeat by Arsenal last season as the moment that Roberto Mancini?s men turned into ?champions.
Toure believes that it was a 1-0 defeat at the Emirates in April, which saw City fall eight points adrift of United, that was the catalyst for a run of six successive victories culminating in the most memorable climax ever to a Premier League season.Toure recalled: ?Losing at ?Arsenal was a turning point. Everybody said that the title was over.
?It would have been easy to accept second place, because Man United had a big lead over us and normally they would not slip. United then had some strange results, but I say that was because we didn?t give in.
?We kept winning games, hoping that something would happen, and it did. Winning the FA Cup was a big step for the club, but the way we won the league made us real winners. ?To come back in the final games was a big step for us to take because winning the title makes you the best. We are a better team now than we were last season. Not just because we are champions, but because of the way that we won it.?
City have since taken their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 10 matches.But they will face Arsenal on the back of a cruel last-gasp Champions League ?defeat at Real Madrid. Toure has demanded an ?instant response from his team-mates. But he has ?dismissed suggestions that he has an added incentive to beat the Gunners... after he was rejected by Arsene Wenger when he had a trial with ?Arsenal as a 20-year-old.Toure said: ?I wasn?t ready to come to England back then. I was young, had very little experience of football, and I don?t blame Arsenal for the decision they made!?
Source: DSG
Source: DSG