On This Day At Manchester City

1995 – Sheffield Wednesday

City’s objective on the final day of the 1994/95 season was to finish as high as possible. The blues had lost just one in nine games by the time City travelled across the Pennines to play out a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Gordon Watson gave the home side the lead in the first half before Uwe Rosler equalised three minutes into the second half to give the blues a share of the spoils

2000 - Blackburn Rovers

City went into the final day of the season knowing they only had to equal Ipswich’s result to win promotion. The only problem was their record at Blackburn, and for 45 minutes, that record looked like being their downfall.

Rovers took the lead in the first half and also hit the woodwork four times before City came back into it. Shaun Goater equalised before Christian Dailly’s own goal gave City the lead. Further goals from Mark Kennedy and Paul Dickov sent blues fans into ecstasy and the club back to the Premier League.

2001 – Ipswich Town

Ipswich were promoted via the play-offs and went up with the blues, and the Tractor Boys first season in the Premier League as better than City’s. The blues were staring relegation in the face after just one season, and they had to win at Ipswich to give themselves a fighting chance. Portman Road was another place City struggled to win at, but that looked to change when Shaun Goater put City in front on 74 minutes. And for four minutes, the blues had a vital three points in the back.

But an equaliser by Matt Holland and a Martijn Reuser winner condemned the blues to another season out of the Premier League.

2005 – Aston Villa

City were pushing for a place in Europe by the time they went to Villa Park in 2005. The blues were ninth in the league but only a few points from sixth, and a 2-1 in Birmingham boosted their hopes of European qualification.

Shaun Wright-Phillips and Kiki Musampa gave City a 2-0 lead after just 12 minutes and, despite a goal in the second half by Juan Pablo Angel, City held on for a vital three points.

2006 – Blackburn

It wasn’t a happy return to Ewood Park for City in 2006. It had been a miserable season for the blues and, although a relegation battle wasn’t on the cards, the blues were still at the wrong end of the table.

A goal in each half for the home side condemned City to a 2-0 defeat that compounded their entire season.

2014 – Aston Villa

Manuel Pellegrini’s first season in Manchester had yielded the League Cup and victory against Aston Villa would put City two points clear of Liverpool in the title race. A goalless first half gave the Mersey reds hope of the visitors pulling off a shock result. Blues fans needn’t have worried.

Edin Dzeko scored two in eight second half minutes to ease the nerves, while Stefan Jovetic made the game safe in the 89^th minute before Yaya Toure stole the show. The big Ivorian charged almost the length of the pitch before hitting home number four to send the blues top and two points clear.