Martin Tyler will forever be remembered as the commentator who captured Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal for Manchester City perfectly.
But 10 years on from that iconic “Agueroooooo” moment, the voice of Sky’s football coverage will be relieved that Philippe Coutinho’s brilliant finish for Aston Villa in the same Etihad goal on Sunday only proved to be a footnote in another dramatic finish to the Premier League season. When Coutinho collected Ollie Watkins’ flicked header to put Villa 2-0 up against City in the 69th minute, Tyler inexplicably credited the assist in his commentary to Son Heung-Min of Tottenham.
“There’s Son Heung-Min” he said as Watkins’ deft touch enabled Coutinho to control the ball before whipping a low shot into the bottom corner of Ederson’s goal. Son, of course, was at that very moment, scoring the first of his two goals in Spurs’ 5-0 thrashing of Norwich at Carrow Road.
The South Korean’s double took his tally for the season to 23 and enabled him to share the Golden Boot with Liverpool ’s Mo Salah. Tyler, even with his 77th birthday approaching, is a consummate professional after spending more than 45 years behind the microphone.
When Coutinho struck to add to Matty Cash’s first-half opener, it appeared that City were about to blow their title hopes in unexpected fashion. Liverpool needed Pep Guardiola’s men to drop points so that they could snatch the title away by beating Wolves at Anfield. But City came storming back with three goals in a five-minute salvo.
Ilkay Gundogan’s header gave them hope and Rodri equalised with a measured shot from 25 yards. Gundogan was then in the right place to convert Kevin De Bruyne’s stunning pass across goal for a 3-2 win. It meant City were champions for the fourth time in five seasons despite Liverpool sealing a 3-1 victory over Wolves thanks to two late goals.
