Three minutes of stoppage time. The longest three minutes in the history of Crystal Palace Football Club.
City kicked off. De Bruyne received. Played it wide to Sané. Sané crossed. Headed away by Tarkowski. Neves picked it up. Held it. Passed to Kovačić. Kovačić held it. Passed to Milivojević. The ball moved between them. Not fifty-three passes this time. Four. Five. Six. Enough. Enough to make City chase. Enough to make the clock move.
Eighty-nine minutes. Guardiola was standing on his touchline. His hands at his sides. Not shouting. Not gesturing. Standing. The fight was leaving him. Not because he had given up. Because the mathematics had left. Four-two with one minute of normal time remaining. The miracle that City needed was bigger than any miracle Guardiola had ever produced.
Ninety minutes. The fourth official held up the board. Three minutes added time.
I was on the white line. Both feet. The fourth official had stopped telling me to move back.
