Antoine Semenyo's moment of magic in this weekend's FA Cup final secured a domestic double for Manchester City, as the Ghana international wrote the latest chapter in Africa's memorable relationship with the competition.
There was a symmetry to it that Wembley could appreciate. It's been 15 years since Yaya Toure thundered City into a new era with his winning goal in the semifinal against Manchester United in this same competition.
Then came his winner against Stoke City in the final, and now another one of the continent's stars may have closed the most glittering chapter in the club's history as manager Pep Guardiola looks to be heading to the exit door.
When Toure inspired City to FA Cup glory in 2011, he ended a 35-year wait for a major trophy, and change the psychology of the club. A compelling case can be made that, without Toure, City's modern dynasty takes a very different shape.
Now, amidst intensifying speculation over Guardiola's future, Semenyo's intervention against Chelsea felt loaded with symbolism; if Toure's FA Cup heroics ignited the modern Man City era, Semenyo may have written the final chapter of Guardiola's glorious epoch.
Certainly, it was Semenyo's biggest contribution to the Manchester City cause since signing from Bournemouth for £64 million in January.
The 26-year-old has steadily accumulated an impressive volume of work under Guardiola to repay the hefty transfer fee and then some, but this moment secured his place in Wembley folklore.
This time, Erling Haaland was the provider, 72 minutes in, as he picked up possession from Bernardo Silva down the right and flashed a low cross into the box. Semenyo, receiving close attention from Levi Colwill, dropped into the centre of the area, but still had to improvise as the delivery drifted behind him.
What followed was a moment that encapsulated the forward's ingenuity and athleticism, as he heel-flicked the ball with beyond Robert Sánchez and into the far corner of the Chelsea goal. It was the kind of goal that only the most special of players can conjure, and fewer still can pull this out in a major final with the scores level.
"Everything happened so fast to be honest. It came straight to me and I had to improvise myself as quickly as I can. It has happened a couple of times in training - it happened perfectly today," Semenyo told the BBC afterwards.
"It's a good finish, I can't lie," he added.
Guardiola's future dominated the build-up to this contest. He's now won 17 major trophies across a transformative decade with City, and if this - his 24th Wembley appearance - was to be his last at the hallowed home of the English game, then he will look back on one of the finest goals scored by one of his sides in a final.
"Antoine as a striker is really good," Guardiola told journalists after the match. "Normally he has to cross to Erling [Haaland] and Erling, in that case, crossed to him, but he has a sense of goal, good finishing. It was a really good goal.
"You can spend I don't know how much money, and if it works its cheap," he added. "You can spend less money and if it's not working, it's expensive, always the tendency when I've signed players."
Gab Marcotti discusses Pep Guardiola's reported Manchester City departure at the end of the season, with Enzo Maresca lined up as a replacement.
Semenyo, for his part, has thrived under the Spanish coach, refining his game and adding a greater decisiveness in the final third.
He now has 10 goals in 25 outings across all competitions for the Sky Blues since signing, with his winner against Chelsea coming only three days after he netted in City's rousing 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium.
"The first thing [Guardiola] said to me when I came was 'don't change your game'," Semenyo continued. "He knows we control the game a lot, he still wants me to be me, still create a bit of chaos.
"He's a madman, we all love him. He's so passionate, and wants to win trophies. What he's done for the club is amazing.
"I have never competed for trophies like this before, so everything is new to me," he concluded. "Hopefully, we can finish the job off [in the title race]."
Africa's affinity for the FA Cup
There were shades, unmistakably, of Nwankwo Kanu in Semenyo's twirling flicked finish, another African star who played his part in the continent's unswerving relationship with the world's oldest club competition.
Kanu lifted this grand old trophy on three occasions, twice with Arsenal, but most memorably, in 2008, as Portsmouth defeated Cardiff City at this same venue to end a 58-year wait for a major trophy.
Kanu, like Semenyo, scored the only goal of the game on that day, the last major moment of his trophy-laden career.
While Kanu in 2008 was a grizzled old campaigner, enjoying the final fumes of his glory, Semenyo's moment captures another element of FA Cup magic.
His rise is suited to the romance of the FA Cup; not too long ago, he was battling in the throes of the lower divisions, once coming off the bench to feature in an FA Cup First Round victory in front of 1137 for Newport County away at Met Police.
There was nothing preordained about his rise to prominence. For years, he sought to convince clubs that he belonged at the highest level, and it's impossible to begrudge him his crowning glory against Chelsea on Saturday.
Like Kanu, his goal encapsulated the flair and improvisation for which African players have often been lauded within the English game, often while being unfairly stereotyped as entertainers and little more.
No discussion of African influence on the FA Cup can ignore Didier Drogba. While Semenyo has authored one iconic Wembley moment, Drogba practically owned this fixture for a decade.
He turned the FA Cup final into his personal stage, scoring in four separate finals for Chelsea. No player in the near-150-year history of the competition has imposed himself on the match like Drogba.
Manchester United in 2007, Everton in 2009, Portsmouth in 2010 and Liverpool in 2012 each gilded Drogba's legacy in the English game, while establishing Chelsea - like Guardiola's City - as serial trophy winners.
He established a psychological inevitability when it came to finals - the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 2012 would be another example - and his power, technique, intelligence, charisma and big-game mentality helped to change the perception of African forwards in England.
That brings us back to Toure, and his goal to ignite City's glorious dynasty. His goals against United and Stoke in 2011 announced the beginning of City's transformation into the dominant force of the English game.
Now, 15 years later and with Guardiola's future uncertain, and another FA Cup secured, Semenyo's winner arrives at another emotional juncture for the club.
As an African footballer authored the opening triumph of this extraordinary era, so Semenyo may have provided its closing image.
