On This Day At Manchester City

As the season’s over the years come to an end, we take a look at some of the games on this day, up to thirty years ago.

1995 – Aston Villa

In 1995, City were unsurprisingly fighting relegation and the match at Villa Park on this day was vital for both teams. Ipswich and Leicester and already been relegated and Villa were dangerously close to the drop zone. City had beaten Liverpool and eventual champions Blackburn to edge away from the drop zone, but with four teams being relegated, City could not afford to drop points, especially against their lower table rivals.

But it looked ominous for the blues after just nine minutes when Ugo Ehiogu, a one time target for City, gave the home side the lead. However Uwe Rosler’s second half equaliser all but secured City’s top flight status for another season.

1997 – Reading

City’s attempt to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt turned more into a relegation battle. The blues survived it comfortably and finished the season with a win against fellow strugglers Reading. Paul Dickov, Neil Heaney and Uwe Rosler gave the bleus a 3-2 victory and ensured City finished in 14^th place.

1998 – Stoke

City’s fight against relegation from the previous season continued into the 97/98 campaign, and the final game of the season saw City face fellow relegation rivals Stoke. The losers would definitely go down, while the winners had to anxiously wait for the outcome of Port Vale’s match at Huddersfield and Portsmouth’s game at Bradford. A City win, coupled with wither Vale or Pompeii failing to win, City would be safe.

Shaun Goater gave the blues the lead on 32 minutes, and Paul Dickov doubled it four minutes into the second half. Stoke pulled a goal back on 62 minutes but a goal from Lee Bradbury restored the two goal advantage. Goater scored his second on 71 minutes and, despite Stoke pulling a goal back on 87, Kevin Horlock made it 5-2 to City. But sadly for the blues, Vale won 4-0 at Huddersfield and Portsmouth recorded a 3-1 victory at Valley Parade and City crashed through the trap door again.

2003 – Liverpool

After bouncing round the leagues, City made another return to the Premier League and had a more successful season this time around, and the final away match of the season was at our most cursed place – Anfield.

After a goalless first half, Liverpool took the lead through Milan Baros and the outcome looked a familiar one. However, a strange thing happened and City were awarded a penalty when Niclas Anelka was brought down. It was the blues first and last penalty of the season, and Anelka picked himself up, dusted himself off and dispatched the penalty to level the scores.

Then, in the final minute, the Frenchman finished off a good counter attack by City, finishing with a brilliant left foot strike to give City the three points.

2014 – Everton

In 2014, the blues were on the hunt for their second Premier League title and were clawing back the lead that Liverpool held over City for most of the season. By the time City went to Goodison, the blues were three points behind Liverpool but the match against Everton was a game in hand. Victory for City would put them level on points with the reds with two games remaining. The big question before the match was, would Everton ‘roll over’ and allow City the win to stop their City rivals winning the league?

It didn’t seem so after just 11 minutes when Ross Barkley gave the home side the lead. Sergio Aguero levelled on 22 minutes and Edin Dzeko put City in front with two minutes of the half remaining. He bagged his second and City’s third on 48 minutes and City were cruising towards the win.

Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back for Everton, but the Toffee’s couldn’t find another way past Joe Hart in the City goal and the bleus held on for a vital three points.

2015 – Spurs

By the time City went ot White Hart Lane in 2015, the champions had surrendered their title to Chelsea, but still put together a good run of games to finish the season with six straight wins. Spurs were the third in that run as Sergio Aguero’s goal in the 29^th minute was enough to take all three points back to Manchester.