The Battle of Manchester is coming! Recall the iconic moments of the famous derby

One of the most watched games in English football is coming up. Manchester City and Manchester United will meet for the 187th time and write the next chapter in their rich history. Recall five memorable moments the derby has offered us in recent seasons.

Owen’s goal in stoppage time in a thrilling shootout

It was perhaps one of the best derbies ever. Manchester City were spending massively ahead of the 09/10 season (thanks to Sheikh Mansour, they could already afford it) and in the first derby of the season, they wanted to send a clear message to their rivals.

But in the end, that didn’t happen. It looked like a draw thanks to Bellamy’s goal in the 90th minute, but Ryan Giggs then found Owen brilliantly to decide the game in the 96th minute. Thus confirming that he is a derby specialist, during his career he has scored in the Merseyside derby, El Clásico and the Tyne – Wear derby in addition to the Manchester derby.

The 6-1 debacle and Balotelli’s ‘Why always me?‘

To beat the rival in the derby and to score 6 goals on his pitch in the process must be a great feeling. And that’s what the Citizens enjoyed in the 11/12 season. Mario Balotelli kicked off the cannonade with two goals, which also earned Evans a red card.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Balotelli if he didn’t draw attention to himself with something other than football. The talented striker has been known for incidents off the pitch – clashes with teammates, a house fire over fireworks..

He was regularly covered by a lot of English media, so Balotelli prepared a message for them, which he revealed right after the first goal, and took care of one of the most famous moments of the derby.

Thwarting the title celebrations

Beating a rival in their own stadium to confirm the title. That’s exactly what the Citizens could have done in April 2018. Guardiola’s team had a 13-point lead in 1st place and the title was pretty much in their pocket, it was just a matter of when they would confirm their win.

They had the chance to do just that in the derby. Not many people doubted that the match would turn out differently than the home team’s win, and the development of the match went accordingly.

Kompany and Gündoğan ensured that the score was 2-0 after half an hour of play and it seemed to be decided. However, at the start of the second half Pogba equalised within two minutes and Smalling completed the turnaround.

Kompany’s crucial goal on his way to a first title

April 2012. One of the most important derbies ever. Even before Aguero’s famous goal gave City their first Premier League title, Mancini’s charges needed to beat Manchester United.

The Red Devils had an eight-point lead at the top of the table with six rounds to go, but this was considerably thinned by the loss to Wigan and the draw with Everton.

With two rounds to go, the Manchester derby was on the agenda. A win for the Citizens would mean they would be in a better position in the title battle due to a better scoreline. And they did, captain Vincent Kompany himself made sure of that.

Rooney’s scissors

One of the best goals in derby history, one of the best goals in Premier League history. The derby in February 2011 came down to a draw, but then Rooney performed something almost magical.

He sent Nani’s centre with a fantastic scissors straight past a helpless Hart. Rooney himself called it his most important goal (the Red Devils dominated the Premier League that season), while Sir Alex Ferguson said he had never seen a better goal.

Of course, the Manchester derby has offered us much more than the above moments throughout its history, but to list them all would be an almost impossible task.

And we can look forward to another interesting battle on Sunday. Both teams need points, the Citizens are fighting for the title, the Red Devils for the top 4. And it’s certain they’ll go all out. Will we see more moments that will go down in history?

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