Pablo Zabaleta’s only Premier League goal in the 2011/12 season is often overshadowed by what happened in the following hour.
Technically, his goal was just as important as Sergio Aguero ’s 94th-minute title-winning power-strike in Manchester City's unforgettable 3-2 win over QPR on the final day. But his fellow countryman rightly gets the plaudits for what is surely the Premier League’s most memorable moment.
And while Zabaleta sang the praises of Aguero too, when recently speaking to the club’s website , he jokingly made sure to remind supporters of his opening goal on that special day as well. “Sergio stole my moment!” he joked. “That was my only goal of the season.”
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The 37-year-old lauded his teammate’s coolness when delivering his winner, describing the now-retired striker as having a “cold mind.” He added: “It was special because it was his first season at the club.
"It was the right player at the right time and the right place. Only Sergio could score that goal.
“Some other players would have looked for a penalty there, but he just stayed on his feet and smashed it. Players like Sergio with that cold mind in moments like that can make that happen.”
Both Aguero and Zabaleta would end the day holding their first Premier League trophy aloft on the Etihad pitch. Similar scenes were witnessed two years later, when City took advantage of Liverpool’s end-of-season slip-up to finish top once again.
Zabaleta ended his nine-year stay in Manchester with 333 appearances to his name, along with 12 goals and 27 assists. He spent just over three years at West Ham before hanging up his professional boots for good in 2020, ending a 17-year career that saw him win eight trophies, earn a 2008 Olympic gold medal and reach the final of the 2014 World Cup.
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