by Original Dub » Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:19 am
Manchester derby power balance sees City favourites, United underdogs:
The last time a Manchester derby was staged on a Thursday night, in November 1994, it pretty much signalled the death of the fixture as anything approaching competitive.
Manchester City had endured their low-points against United, but there had been some memorable highs over the years, including the day Denis Law's back-heeled goal for City at Old Trafford signposted United's relegation in 1974 and the 5-1 victory at Maine Road in 1989.
The 5-1 -- Blues and Reds refer to the best and worst of derbies in terms of the respective scorelines -- was billed as the "Demolition Derby" the day Sir Alex Ferguson's expensive misfits were torn apart by City's team of emerging, homegrown youngsters, but on Thursday Nov. 10, 1994, the 5-1 win was eclipsed by a 5-0 defeat.
United, reigning champions and FA Cup holders, destroyed City at Old Trafford, with Andrei Kanchelskis scoring a hat trick on a night when Simon Tracey, City's on-loan goalkeeper, became the butt of jokes from Reds taunting Blues. "What time is, it?" they would ask. "Five past Tracey," being the mocking response.
That night was City's derby nadir. Between the 5-1 in September 1989 and a 3-1 win in Maine Road's final derby in November 2002, City failed to register a single victory against their crosstown rivals.
The 5-0 was United's biggest victory during an eight-game winning streak which was only in single figures due to City suffering relegations that saw them end up in the third tier by 1998, contesting derbies against Macclesfield Town and Oldham Athletic rather than United.
But when the two clubs collide at the Etihad Stadium this Thursday, the 174th Manchester derby will be a clash of two heavyweights on an equal footing. The days of City being little more than helpless punch-bags against United are long gone, with their revival pre-dating Sheikh Mansour's takeover in September 2008.
United used to travel to the blue half of Manchester in expectation, rather than hope, of three points, but no more. Every encounter now carries so much more significance than local bragging rights. Now it is a rivalry which is perhaps second only to the battle for supremacy in Madrid between Real and Atletico as the most anticipated, significant and explosive derby in Europe.
AC Milan vs. Inter has become a clash between two also-rans in Serie A; Celtic vs. Rangers still too one-sided due to Rangers' spell in the wilderness; Liverpool vs. Everton, while keenly contested, does not carries the national importance of the 1980s, when the two clubs dominated English football.
City no longer approach the derby with an inferiority complex, with United suffering too many big defeats at their hands of their neighbours in recent years to maintain their arrogant swagger when facing the Blues.
Ferguson, City's nemesis over the years, is central to the story of the Etihad resurgence as his remarks about United's rivals acted as reference points for each step towards parity.
When Kevin Keegan's City ended the club's 13-year victory drought in 2002, Ferguson's fury defined the moment. "I've given them [players] a b------ing, and quite rightly," he said. "You can't accept that. I just feel sorry for the fans. I wish I could let them into the dressing room so the players would know what they are thinking."
United's players took the message on board, going on to win the Premier League title that season, but City had broken their curse and, from that point onwards, the derby became virtually an equal contest again.
Since November 2002, City have won 13 derbies; United have won 16, and there have been five draws in between. There was the Premier League double in 2007-08, when Sven-Goran Eriksson's City won at Old Trafford for the first time since Law's winner in 1974; a Yaya Toure-inspired victory in an FA Cup semifinal in 2011 -- which preceded City winning their first major trophy since 1976 by defeating Stoke in the final; and the 6-1 -- when City tore United apart at Old Trafford in October 2011.
By that point, Ferguson's view of City had changed from apathy to hostility. When Carlos Tevez's defection from red to blue in the summer of 2009 prompted City to project their infamous "Welcome to Manchester" billboard in the city centre, the United manager dismissed them as a "small club with a small mentality," but it only served to show that City were getting under United's skin.
Then came the "noisy neighbours" jibe after Michael Owen's stoppage time winner in the 4-3 victory September 2009 sealed the most pulsating derby in years.
But despite Ferguson's goading, City turned up the volume even louder than United, with manager Roberto Mancini vowing to "tear down" the ticking clock banner at Old Trafford which marked the number of years since City's last trophy.
When that came down after City's 2011 FA Cup win, the club set their sights on ending United's Premier league dominance by winning the title. But Ferguson could never foresee the day when United would be regarded as underdogs against City? "Not in my lifetime," the Scot said.
And yet it came to pass, with City's title win in 2012 -- two weeks after Vincent Kompany's header sealed a 1-0 City win in arguably the biggest ever Manchester derby -- confirming the shift in the balance of power.
It has swayed between blue and red ever since. Ferguson has gone and City have finished ahead of United in each of the three seasons since his retirement in May 2013. They are now the top dogs rather than the underdogs, with Pep Guardiola slugging it out against Jose Mourinho in order to keep it that way.
But Thursday offers United the chance to push the pendulum back in their direction. A win at the Etihad -- Ferguson often referred to City's ground as the "Temple of Doom" in contrast to United's "Theatre of Dreams" -- would lift United above City and leave Guardiola's men outside the Champions League spots. If City win, they will believe they have put United in their place once again.
It is all a far cry from 1994, when City were crushed by Ferguson's big red machine. But times have changed and football's most one-sided derby has now become a rivalry for the ages
