Needle touched vinyl, bass right up. One last spin of Manchester City’s favourite record. Crackles in places these days but still transports its public back to life-altering days when time stood still as the music kept playing.
Kevin De Bruyne’s final outing here, the area he now calls home. The last gig for the King as the Boss performed at the arena next door. Not even Bruce Springsteen can lay claim to being the hottest ticket in town when City say goodbye to the greatest of his generation.
Tears filled his eyes as messages from former team-mates were beamed on the big screen – from Vincent Kompany to Raheem Sterling to Pablo Zabaleta – with his family surrounding him. ‘Emotional,’ he said as Pep Guardiola watched on crying.
‘I want to bring joy to people, be creative and have fun. I think we had a lot of fun over these 10 years Together we’ve built a big future for you guys. I’ve made friends for life and we will be back here for sure. We love you and we’ll see you soon.’
Back here to look at the statue of himself, at the very least. This is where De Bruyne’s kids grew up, where you suspect the roots will remain, and it has never really felt as if he – the constant talisman of Guardiola’s various super teams – or the supporters are ready for the farewell. One more year, one more song. An encore, come on.
But City need to move on, need to remove the £400,000 a week from their bloated wage bill as new director of football Hugo Viana guides them into the next era. That becomes a smoother transition with the Champions League, and wealth afforded those who qualify.
City won 3-1 against Bournemouth as Kevin De Bruyne made his final appearance at the Etihad
Omar Marmoush opened the scoring in the first-half with a stunning effort from 30 yards out
Silva doubled the lead, squeezing into Kepa’s near post in the only way he seems to know how
Victory against Bournemouth made sure that is in City’s hands when they travel to Fulham on the last day – now in third, needing one point to make absolutely sure – and De Bruyne has contributed a fair amount to the deposed champions hauling themselves into contention for a top five spot when at one stage it seemed fanciful.
Sorrow at De Bruyne’s days coming to a close were tempered somewhat by the emergence of Rodri from the bench, just after the hour, for a jog down the touchline. They rose as one, feeling there are better times ahead once the metronome returns. That only amplified when he actually came on.
There was probably no finer way of paying homage to De Bruyne than what Omar Marmoush conjured 14 minutes in, taking a square ball off Mateo Kovacic just inside the Bournemouth half. The Egyptian wandered forward, the visitors backed off and once within 30 yards of Kepa Arrizabalaga, he let fly.
The effort soared, arrowed, pierced its way towards the goalkeeper’s right-hand post. With a satisfying clink, the shot thundered into its intended target. Hit with such venom, it bounced back out and De Bruyne booted into the stand as Marmoush went off sliding in the corner. One of the more astonishing goals of the season.
And soon came an astonishing moment, involving those two players. Marmoush darted to the byline and flashed across the six-yard box without looking. De Bruyne waited, although was ahead of the ball ever so slightly. His feet weren’t planted properly and the Belgian rather shinned on to the crossbar. An open goal, every which way you dice it.
Bereft, he puffed in embarrassment. Eldest son, Mason, was handed an iPhone inside the De Bruyne private box, which very much looked like somebody studying a replay of the miss. Wife Michele smirked and fortunately for her husband, it didn’t matter beyond representing something of a shame.
‘Terrible, terrible,’ De Bruyne said. ‘No excuses. My son is going to be very tough on me today.’
Bournemouth briefly sensed something, becoming increasingly more active. Marcus Tavernier buccaneered down the left, sending a bouncing cross Evanilson’s way – the Brazilian peeling off Manuel Akanji – only for the striker to hit the post on the stretch.
Any City fears subsided seven minutes before the break. Bernardo Silva doubled the lead, squeezing into Kepa’s near post in the only way he seems to know how to score in this stadium – right in that specific area of that specific goal at that specific end.
De Bruyne left fans stunned in silence after missing an open goal from inside the six-yard box
Kevin De Bruyne joined Manchester City in 2015 and has won 19 trophies during his ten years
Mateo Kovacic was sent off after dragged back Evanilson around 50 yards from Ederson’s goal
Daniel Jebbison notched a late consolation goal for Bournemouth in their 3-1 loss at the Etihad
Ilkay Gundogan did the hard work, cutting back after picking up loose possession, and as Silva’s crazed eyes raced off to the corner of that stand, Erling Haaland and De Bruyne shared a few seconds of quiet reflection as they walked over to the celebrations.
De Bruyne’s night ended abruptly. Last man Kovacic dragged back Evanilson around 50 yards from Ederson’s goal, referee Thomas Bramall choosing red over yellow, and De Bruyne was sacrificed. He loitered, took embraces off team-mates. Sunk into a Guardiola hug. Waved to his family.
But City had a job to do: to see this out against dangerous opposition. That became easier when Lewis Cook went storming into substitute Nico Gonzalez, studs up. Gonzalez shrugged that off to beautifully curl in a first City goal on the break late on, with Daniel Jebbison adding a consolation.