Echoes of 2012 continue to ring around Manchester City as they look to seize on the stumble by Liverpool and their captain Steven Gerrard and win their second title in three years.
City players cut forlorn figures at the end of the heart-breaking defeat on Merseyside two weeks ago.
In their next fixture City fans wore frustrated looks at the end of the disastrous draw at home to Sunderland.
But now the title race is back in their hands.
Manuel Pellegrini said to reporters before the game that he would tell his players the outcome of the Liverpool and Chelsea fixture from earlier in the day. If that is the case it certainly paid dividends.
City raced out of the blocks, showing no signs of nerves or tension and secured the crucial three points with two first-half goals.
The victory against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park was reminiscent of the victory the club had at Molineux in 2012.
Prior to that game against Wolves, their rivals for the title Manchester United threw away a two-goal lead in a thrilling encounter to draw with Everton at Old Trafford.
City capitalised on this result to full effect to reignite the title race. This happened once again on Sunday.
Now the Blues must return to Merseyside, the scene of heartbreak only a few weeks ago, to face an Everton side that is fighting to remain in contention for the Champions League.
With two home games to come against relatively easy opposition a win for the Blues will put Pellegrini’s side firmly in control of the title race.
However it is not going to be an easy fixture for City. The club’s recent record at Goodison Park is terrible, losing their last four while only winning twice in 16 visits.
But City faced a similarly tough task in 2012.
That year the Blues had to travel to the north east to face a Newcastle side that, like Everton, were competing for a surprise place in the Champions League.
On the day City rose to that challenge thanks to a double from their magnificent Ivorian, Yaya Toure, and came away with a 2-0 victory.
A large portion of the squad that completed the miraculous comeback to clinch the Premier League title under Roberto Mancini remain at the club and that could prove decisive.
Premier League title-winning experience should not be underestimated, neither should experience of doing it when all hope appeared to be gone.
The fans have once again been signing, ‘We’ll fight to the end’, and once again the players are responding.
Winning against Everton is not only going to be down to what happens on the pitch but it is also going to be about what happens in the dugout.
Roberto Martinez has received tremendous acclaim from the media since taking over from David Moyes in the summer and has guided the Toffees to their highest ever points total in the Premier League.
But it would be fitting if the biggest result of the Pellegrini era were to come against the manager that brought an end to the Mancini era at City.
This title race has been equally as thrilling as the one that saw City capture their first league title in 44 years and a win would see the club move one step closer to securing their second in three years.
It is time for Vincent Kompany to rally the troops for the final challenges and muster the spirit that saw the club win the league in 2012, and, in the words of the man whose stumble has presented City with this opportunity, ‘we go again.’
Main image courtesy of Paul Currie/Action Images, with thanks.
