TM time travel to 6:1
It’s not that Manchester City have never beaten their great city rivals Man United. And yet victories over the record champions, especially in the league, were the exception for a long time. With the return to the Premier League in 2002, however, the signs for City slowly began to change, and ten seasons later – exactly 11 years ago, on 23.10.2011 – the sky blues could hardly have made it clearer to the reds that the balance of power had changed.
Man City celebrated their first Premier League championship in the 2011/12 season – the fourth in English football history. A milestone on the way there was the 9th matchday, on which the “Citizens” served the reigning champions a very meaningful 6:1 (1:0) in their own stadium in Old Trafford. United almost became champions in the end, but had to cede the title to their city rivals on the last day of the game – because of the worse goal difference.
These players were active at Man United and Man City
“We wanted to win the game to show everyone that we mean business in this league,” said then-City defender Joleon Lescott (quoted via PA Sports). “We had extra motivation because nobody outside the club took us seriously and everyone said we were only together because Man City were throwing money at everyone.”
United win as Balotelli & Dzeko scored twice for Man City
City’s derby weekend began with headlines about Mario Balotelli, who set his house on fire the day before the City duel while attempting to set off firecrackers from the bathroom early Sunday morning. The Italian was forced to flee, hitting the headlines with pictures of the completely destroyed bathroom and just a day later flashing a T-shirt with the words “why always me?” – why he’s always on – when he scored 6-1 for City land on the front pages of the tabloids.
Manchester City 2011/12: That was the champion team from back then
Balotelli scored twice on the glorious night at Old Trafford. Edin Dzeko, who City signed from VfL Wolfsburg in January 2011 for 37 million euros, also scored two goals in the final minutes. One of his goals came from defender Lescott, who saw victory coming when United’s Jonny Evans was sent off in the 47th minute when City were 1-0. He says: “As soon as they were down to ten, we knew we were going to win the game.”
In fact, the football world in Manchester changed afterwards, at least in terms of numbers. After City’s championship win in 2012 with current Italian national coach Roberto Mancini, the city’s rivals – previously 19-time English champions – only reclaimed the title the following year with coach Sir Alex Ferguson. City, on the other hand, have won five more, once with Manuel Pellegrini and four times under Pep Guardiola.
Haaland four places ahead of Sané: Manchester City’s most expensive purchases
To home page