The pyrotechnics were loaded, the t-shirts were printed, and the champagne was on ice. For Manchester City fans it was looking like the ultimate coronation day.
They had the chance to win the Premier League title in record-breaking style at home to Manchester United. They would have needed no further reason to pledge allegiance to Pep Guardiola.
It felt like a day of destiny, and until half-time that's how it was panning out. The fireworks City had ordered were not the ones they got, though.
From the very start, it felt like a party, but City hadn't accounted for Jose Mourinho being the ultimate party pooper; a villain who enjoys spoiling them as much as he enjoys holding them himself.
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