MY ACCOUNT
This weekend sees Manchester host another chapter in the historic rivalry between City and United.
We look back at four memorable previous encounters between the two famous clubs.
Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (October 2011)
Roberto Mancini’s men took no prisoners on this extraordinary afternoon at Old Trafford, smashing home six goals en route to their maiden Premier League title.
A game that United boss Alex Ferguson described as the club’s “worst-ever day”, the “noisy neighbours” from the blue side of the city dealt a seismic blow to their local rivals.
Mercurial forward Mario Balotelli opened the scoring 22 minutes in, stroking the ball past a helpless David de Gea before displaying a “Why Always Me?” t-shirt.
The encounter was delicately poised until Jonny Evans’ red card stacked the odds in the visitors’ favour.
Balotelli bagged his second shortly after, then Sergio Aguero added a third, before Darren Fletcher netted for the hosts.
But a brace from substitute Edin Dzeko either side of a neat David Silva finish rounded off a humiliating afternoon for the Red Devils.
United would dust themselves off to earn a shot at preventing the Citizens’ Premier League triumph, but Sergio Aguero’s heroics on the final-day epic against QPR ended a remarkable season for the team from the Etihad.
Manchester City 5-1 Manchester United (September 1989)
City celebrated their return to the First Division in style with a stunning victory against their old foes.
Maine Road played host to a glorious day for Mel Machin’s men, with two goals from David Oldfield, plus one each for Trevor Morley, Ian Bishop and Andy Hinchcliffe putting United to the sword.
Mark Hughes notched the visitors’ consolation, but nothing could hide the embarrassment that Gary Pallister would go on to describe as the lowest point of his playing career, later dubbed the “Maine Road Massacre”.
Both teams ended the campaign in mid-table mediocrity, but United’s FA Cup final victory against Crystal Palace later that season was a sign of their future dominance.
Not until November 2002 were City able to taste the sweet success of victory in this fixture once more.
Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City (April 2001)
While some games are remembered for great goals and late winners, this meeting is synonymous with Roy Keane’s tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.
With newly-crowned champions United being held to a 1-1 draw, their tenacious club captain took out his frustrations on his Norwegian counterpart and was shown a red card after landing his studs high on Haaland’s leg.
“I don’t think the referee had much choice other than to send Roy off — I don’t think Alfie Haaland’s seeing a solicitor but it was close to assault,” said City boss Joe Royle after the incident.
Initially handed a three-match suspension, Keane would receive a further five-match ban following the publication of his autobiography the next year in which he admitted it was a premeditated lunge.
Despite the hard-earned point, Royle’s side made an immediate return to the second tier the following month.
Manchester United 4-3 Manchester City (September 2009)
Eight years later, the two clubs were now battling at the same end of the Premier League table, thanks to a summer of transfer activity at the Etihad.
City had splashed the cash to bring the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Joleon Lescott and, most controversially, ex-United forward Carlos Tevez to the club.
In this famous encounter, Mark Hughes’ visitors came from behind on three occasions to leave the scores level at 3-3 heading into the final moments of stoppage time.
But as the clock ticked into the 96th minute, Ryan Giggs found Michael Owen who slotted past Shay Given to send Old Trafford into a frenzy.
