Roberto Mancini jumped from his seat and punched a fist as he twisted in mid-air to acclaim Edin Dzeko's exquisite, dramatic, injury-time winner for Manchester City at The Hawthorns.
His jubilation at a second goal from Dzeko - a man he had only summoned from the bench in the 79th minute - illustrated the importance Mancini placed on banking three points from an afternoon when City had played for 67 minutes with 10-men.
Until Dzeko's two-goal intervention, City seemed destined to fall seven points behind Chelsea after Roberto Di Matteo's team had manufactured a comeback of their own against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the lunchtime match.
Turnaround: Edin Dzeko celebrates his second goal
Tucked away: Dzeko bags the winner
MATCH FACTS
West Brom:
Foster, Ridgewell, Olsson, McAuley, Tamas, Yacob, Mulumbu, Dorrans
(Odemwingie 63) , Morrison (Gera 72), Fortune, Long (Lukaku 81).
Subs not used: Luke Daniels, Popov, Rosenberg, Jara Reyes.
Booked: Tamas, Yacob, Long, Fortune.
Goal: Long 67.
Man City: Hart, Clichy, Lescott, Kompany, Richards, Milner, Barry (Dzeko 79) Nasri, Toure, Balotelli (Aguero 63), Tevez (Kolarov 82).
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Sinclair, Toure.
Booked: Balotelli, Y Toure.
Sent off: Milner.
Goals: Dzeko 80, 90.
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Att: 24,891
Subs not used: Luke Daniels, Popov, Rosenberg, Jara Reyes.
Booked: Tamas, Yacob, Long, Fortune.
Goal: Long 67.
Man City: Hart, Clichy, Lescott, Kompany, Richards, Milner, Barry (Dzeko 79) Nasri, Toure, Balotelli (Aguero 63), Tevez (Kolarov 82).
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Sinclair, Toure.
Booked: Balotelli, Y Toure.
Sent off: Milner.
Goals: Dzeko 80, 90.
Ref: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Att: 24,891
While nothing may ever match the theatrical nature of Sergio Aguero's late goal that captured the title for City five months ago, the scenes of celebration at West Bromwich, where Albion had won their four home matches, told their own story.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart travelled the length of the field to throw his gloves into the City supporters; Joleon Lescott and Mario Balotelli, substituted in the second half, distributed their shirts to fans singing: 'That's why we are champions.'
Lescott and fellow defenders Micah Richards, Gael Clichy and Vincent Kompany played themselves almost to a standstill, while Yaya Toure ran and ran. Mancini had shouted himself hoarse, causing assistant David Platt to articulate the relief, pride and satisfaction at delivering a victory won by hard graft, imagination and camaraderie after James Milner had been shown a red card in the 23rd minute for a foul on Shane Long.
'We set off last year like Chelsea have done,' said Platt. 'It is too early to say how important these points will be but they are certainly nice to have.
Red card: Mark Clattenburg sends off James Milner after a cynical foul
'You can't drop that many points if
you expect to win the championship. People talk about the expensive
players we have at this club but there's also a lot of spirit, as we
showed again today. 'You don't win championships without that kind of spirit. We won our last six games last season to be champions.
'Aguero's goal will be remembered as the one that won the title but people forget that it was Dzeko who equalised when we were behind against QPR. 'Dzeko is always a goal threat. A lot of the goals he has scored for Manchester City have been "heavy" goals, ones that have been very important to the club.'
On Saturday City never lost the belief that victory was within reach. Even when down to 10 men and trailing to Long's goal, poached in the 63rd minute, Mancini retained two strikers; at first, Balotelli and Carlos Tevez, then Aguero and Dzeko.
Pop: Dzeko heads in the equaliser
Pure delight: Dzeko celebrates his stoppage time winner
In truth, it was difficult at times to tell City had a man short. 'When they went down to 10 men, City showed they were champions for a reason,' admitted Albion manager Steve Clarke.
His team had taken the lead after he had introduced Peter Odemwingie from the bench. With 27 minutes left, the Nigerian cut in from the left to unleash a shot.
It was not the best of his career, it has to be admitted but Long appeared beyond Lescott to take a deft touch that placed the ball beyond Hart.
Taken down: Milner fouls the pacy Long
Take that: Mario Balotelli crashes into Long
Mancini had already substituted
Balotelli, who, typically, had shown a glimpse of his brilliance and a
sight of his still-suspect temperament. Only an intuitive save with his leg from West Bromwich keeper Ben Foster had denied him a first-half goal after a shimmering dribble by the Italian but, having already been booked in the 19th minute, he risked a second yellow card by clattering into Long moments before half time.
Denied: Joe Hart blocks off Graham Dorrans
Aerial battle: Gareth McAuley contests a header with Vincent Kompany
Block party: West Brom repel a free kick
In Dzeko, though, City possess a more
conventional striker. And on Saturday, with his second touch, he rose
to head City level from a tantalising free-kick from Tevez. Foster was
caught in no-man's land, just as Hart had been in Warsaw on Wednesday,
and was nowhere near the ball as the Bosnian equalised. Even then, Romelu Lukaku had two chances to seize a second goal for Albion before City hit them on the break after poor use of a corner. Once the ball arrived at the feet of Aguero, the Argentine instinctively swept the ball into the path of Dzeko, who shaped his shot around Foster's despairing dive.
Mancini may have left the talking to Platt but he still has plenty to say in the destination of this title race.
First in: Kompany beats Long to the ball
Not his day: Balotelli could not make an impact
Decisions: Micah Richards did not wear a Kick It Out top before the game
No way: Joleon Lescott (right) refused to wear one
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