The Manchester derby has taken on a new size over the past two decades, with Manchester City and Manchester United dominating the Premier League.
Their last FA Cup clash on 3 June was a memorable occasion, their first meeting in such a match, and ended in a 2-1 win for Pep Guardiola’s City en route to a treble that equalled that of their rivals in the 1998/. 99 feats. .
This season, Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag were once again involved in the Wembley masterpiece as United avenged last season, winning the 2024 FA Cup final with a score of 2-1, which is their highest overall performance of the season. . .
United dominated the early days of the Premier League, racking up thirteen very good top-flight titles between 1992 and 2013. Meanwhile, City were oscillating between divisions before, despite everything, emerging as a top-flight force.
The Abu Dhabi-backed acquisition of City in 2008 reshaped the club, both in its Mancunian rivalry and its prestige as a European superpower. Guardiola has a squad of world-class players. The face of Manchester derbies has absolutely changed since then, with the blue part of the city enjoying an era of sustained success.
The Sporting News takes a closer look at the history of their clashes, as the Manchester derby produces 90 minutes or more highly spiced and full of storytelling.
MORE: Man City’s quest for a treble equivalent to Man United’s feat in 1999
The Manchester derby is one of the longest running battles in English football, with its first match dating back to 1881, 3 years after United was founded and just over 12 months after City were founded.
Despite their contrasting fortunes, the rivalry continued to shine on both sides of the city, with City most likely failing to pick up overall victories for at least another decade.
In all competitions, since 1881, the two have met a total of 190 times, with 78 wins for United, 60 for City and 53 draws.
*Knowledge correct as of 25 May 2024 following the conclusion of the 2024 FA Cup final.
FA Cup clashes between the two have been infrequent over the years, with the first coming in the 1891 FA Cup, when City were still known as Ardwick AFC, when United won 5–1.
City got their revenge in the 1925/26 competition, winning 3–0 in the semi-finals, before losing to Bolton Wanderers in the final.
City followed up their FA Cup derby record with a win over United in 1955, before losing 3-0 in a fourth-round derby in 1970 that ended their reign as champions.
United won the next three FA Cup matches as their paths began to diverge in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the two post-2008 clashes offered memorable occasions, with one win each. City’s semi-final in 2011 thanks to a goal from Yaya Toure put them on course for glory and their first primary trophy in 35 years.
Their most recent meeting came in the 2024 final, when teen stars Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo scored to secure a 2-1 victory and claim the trophy. That defeat avenged the Red Devils last year, when two goals from Ilkay Gundogan of Away from Home, dominance of penalties had given City a 2-1 win and the trophy.
Manchester derbies in the Premier League era can almost be split along any of the 2008 dividing lines, with United leading the way at the start.
Eight straight wins and two draws took United to 2002, unbeaten against their Crosstown opponents, before Shaun Goater etched his call into City folklore by scoring a brace as City clinched their first Premier League win over United in the derby decider at Maine Road.
#en this day, 14 years ago, Maine Road hosted its last #ManchesterDerby. And we all know what happened. . . #mcfc pic. twitter. com/fWhggpjLeS
United had largely dominated through ruthless power up to that point, the previous encounter (a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in April 2001) had been remembered for all the wrong reasons with Roy Keane sent off for a nasty cut on Alf. Inge Haaland, the father of current City superstar Erling.
Today is Alf-Inge Håland’s birthday, he probably wouldn’t need that “input” from Roy Keane pic. twitter. com/df9O1N5Onc
Gober’s intervention gave City some intermittent solidity, squandering two of the next seven Premier League battles, before emerging victorious at Old Trafford, in the last derby before the 2008 takeover.
The new monetary injection did not mean an instant replacement of the guard, as United continued until the derby, with Michael Owen’s last breath winning in a mystery 4-3 in 2009, one of the most memorable goals of his career.
WHAT. A. THU. #OnThisDay in 2009, @themichaelowen scored a late winning goal for @ManUtd against @ManCity ? The biggest Manchester derby in #PL history?? pic. twitter. com/NlTRiUGCMg
A late header from Paul Scholes in the opposite game gave United the ‘Premier League double’ against City in 2009/10, a feat they only repeated in 2019/20 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Wayne Rooney’s game-winner in 2011 was arguably the last big moment of the United derby, as the tide began to turn following Pep Guardiola’s arrival in Manchester in 2016.
The best derby goal of all time!@WayneRooney #MUFC pic. twitter. com/AX2lENFFv2
Guardiola won four of his first six Premier League derbies in Manchester, from 2016 to 2019, and despite some back-and-forth, the arrival of Erling Haaland added something else to City.
The Norwegian scored his goal in the Manchester derby with a hat-trick as City claimed a 6-3 win at the Etihad Stadium in October 2022, becoming the first player to score three goals in a derby since Andrei Kanchelskis in 1994. Haaland followed up those efforts with a brace in City’s 3-0 win at Old Trafford in October 2023 and completed the scoring after a Phil Foden brace that secured a 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium in March 2004.
Manchester is blue! ? Highlights of our derby ? win pic. twitter. com/35EvD9Wzyi
The gap in trophy numbers remains largely in United’s favour, but City’s immediate promotion shows no signs of slowing down in its aim to catch United and Liverpool as the two dominant forces in English football history.