Man City's 'iconic' goal a reminder of how Txiki Begiristain has left contract mistakes behind

For every opponent, you have a goal that stands out above all others.

QPR, well that’s obvious. For Leicester, it’s Vincent Kompany’s thunderbolt. Southampton, cast your mind back to Georgi Kinkladze’s twinkling left boot. For Burnley, take your pick from about 37 Shaun Goater efforts.

When Fulham step onto the Etihad Stadium turf to face Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, plenty of fans will already have cast their mind back fondly to when the west London outfit visited nearly eight years ago.

No, we’re not talking about Yaya Toure’s clattering long-range drive to complete a hat-trick in a 5-0 win. Or Fernandinho thundering one into the top corner when darting away from goal. Where’s the fun in that?

We’re talking about a goal that’s the polar opposite of such exploits in almost every way.

You tell me a two-yard prod into an empty net can’t be beautiful and I’ll show you Martin Demichelis’ goal against Fulham.

The goal counted for very little - it was already 4-0 in the 88th minute. It was all about the aesthetics.

Stevan Jovetic was played in down the right channel by Fernandinho after Fulham failed to clear a set-piece and his cross-cum-shot was partially stopped by goalkeeper David Stockdale.

The rebound trickled to Demichelis, unmarked and laconic at the back post. No pace on the ball? No problem, Martin wasn’t going to over-extend himself.

In fact, he almost trapped it. From such a short distance, Demichelis tucked the ball home at such a glacial pace that he was able to nonchalantly lift his arm in celebration before his shot crossed the line and barely brushed the netting.

That arm in the air from the veteran ponytailed centre-back really was the clincher - the moment that