On This Day At Manchester City

2010 – City Grab Point At Juventus

In 2010, the blues faced off against Italian giants Juventus. The two teams had met in September, with that tie ending in a 1-1 draw, with City coming from behind to take a point. The blues had already qualified for the knock-out stage and needed a point to go through as group winners.

Juventus had drawn all five of their previous games, so a draw was the most likely outcome and it was just the point that City needed.

After a dull first half, Juventus took the lead just before half-time. Niccolo Giannetti nipping in front of Dedryck Boyata to put the Italians ahead. City’s main rival in the group turned out to be Lech Poznan, and with the Polish side leading, City needed a goal to avoid a tough draw.

It duly came with 14 minutes to go. Adam Johnson found striker Jo with an excellent pass, and the Brazilian striker spun and buried a low shot past the keeper. It was enough to send City top of the group and they would face Aris Saloniki in the next round.

Final Score: Juventus 1-1 City EL

2009 – Spurs Defeat Puts Hughes’ Job On The Line

The 2009/10 season had started well for manager Mark Hughes. Five wins from the first six matches had the fans dreaming that, at last and after all this time, City would get some success. But that’s where it all went wring for Hughes. After a 3-1 over West Ham, City then won only one match from the following 10 games, and after drawing 3-3 at Bolton, City went to Spurs with the threat of the sack hanging over Hughes’ head.

Nico Kranjcar gave the home side the lead on 37 minutes, before Jermaine Defoe added a second nine minutes into the second half. Kranjcar scored his second in the fourth minute of injury time as City suffered only their second defeat of the season.

Final Score: Spurs 3-0 City

2000 – City Grab A Draw From The Clutches Of Victory

City were playing their first season back in the Premier League since 1996, but not everything was going to plan. The blues had won two away games, but had suffered heavy defeats at Arenal (5-0) and West Ham (4-1), but went into the match at Villa Park on the back of thrashing Everton 5-0 at Maine Road.

After a dull first half, Alf Inge-Haaland gave City the lead after being put through in goal by Paolo Wanchope. Dion Dublin headed Villa level, but a few minutes later City were back in front. Mark Kennedy’s shot was parried by future City keeper David James into the path of Wanchope, who didn’t need a second invitation.

Villa then had Lee Hendrie sent off for dissent, but David Ginola scored his first goal for Villa to give them a share of the points.

Final Score: Villa 2-2 City