For Vincent Kompany, watching the most iconic goals of the Premier League’s 25-year history brought back a painful memory.
The date was February 12, 2011 and Wayne Rooney’s spectacular overhead-kick winner against Man City at Old Trafford became a moment etched into Manchester folklore.
Freeze-framed as Rooney strikes is an anguished Kompany, and six years on as City face a very different Rooney at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow the Belgian star has his own take on events that day.
“I think that goal was kind of a testimony to Wayne’s talent, because in that game I absolutely had him in my pocket! I played a really strong game,” recalls Kompany.
“But top strikers do things at unbelievable times and then he pulls the overhead kick and I’m thinking ‘Oh, come on!’.
“I have a lot of respect for Wayne. We’ve played so many games against each other. I think I’ve played more than 20 times against United in my career and not once was he not part of their team.”
Kompany insists time has not dimmed Rooney’s quality, as the former England captain starts the next chapter of his career at Goodison Park.
“Even the goal he scored for Everton at the weekend against Stoke, the way he recognises that he needs to get in the box, marks him out.
“I don’t think many players could have done that. We can all play the pass he played, maybe even head it like he did too. But to understand that ‘this is the moment I need to go’, to have that timing just like the overhead kick – it’s something that sets him apart.”
Like Rooney at United, Kompany holds a special place in the hearts of City fans.
And although the landscape at the Etihad is changing fast the Belgian skipper is still a part of Pep Guardiola’s vision – and is beyond excited.
“I think it’s because we don’t play the way we play by chance or by luck,” he said. “We’ve worked really hard to get this way of building up, controlling games, strangling teams.
“It’s the first time in my career I’ve been working so hard on a game plan – a plan to beat any team.
“Last year we laid down the foundations towards making everybody understand what the plan is about. Now we have a few new players to integrate but there’s less to teach. It feels more natural.
“In football you have to have a very clear idea of what you’re trying to achieve. Like Chelsea last season – when everyone understood their jobs.
“But that’s why it’s the best league in the world. You go across the street at United and they probably feel the same way – and yet there is only one winner.”
Kompany hopes it’s City this season. And he defends the return of just two league titles – in 2012 and 2014 – since billionaire Sheikh Mansour took charge in 2008.
“If you put everything into perspective it’s an incredible achievement,” he said.
“Of course there’s been a lot of investment but we had to catch up on 25 years of dominance by another team, not just football but financial.
“You need to put a lot of work and effort into it.
“We had to fight to get that first title and then we got a second to confirm things. Since then we’ve been in the mix.
“And what gives me a lot of confidence is that there’s an academy that is one of the best in the country and that shows there is vision at City.”