Flashback: The iconic Manchester derby when City shifted the balance of power
City won the match 6-1, their biggest-ever win in the Manchester derby, and their biggest win at Manchester United's ground since they won 5-0 in 1955. For the home side, the Red Devils, their famous 'Theatre of Dreams' turned into a 'Theatre of Nightmares'.
However, this match was already the second Manchester derby of the season. The two rivals had met at the very beginning of the season, in August 2011, at Wembley in a battle for the Community Shield. The FA Cup holders and the third-placed team in the Premier League in the previous season, City, faced reigning league champions United.
At half-time in that clash, the Sky Blues were leading 2-0 after Joleon Lescott and Edin Dzeko scored. But Chris Smalling and Nani levelled the scores at 2-2. Then, in injury time, Nani capitalized on some hesitation from City defenders Vincent Kompany and Gael Clichy to seal a 3-2 victory for the Red Devils with his second goal of the game.
As a result, in the league derby in October, the Citizens craved revenge. As we have already disclosed, they achieved that in a big way.
Demolition in the derby
The first half ended 1-0 for the visitors in sky blue. The opening goal was scored by Mario Balotelli, the naughty child of world football whose story surrounding this match extends far beyond the touchline.
Right after the break, Manchester United's Johnny Evans stopped Balotelli with a foul close to the edge of the penalty area and received a red card. United down went to 10 men and then things started to fall apart...
In the 60th minute, Balotelli scored for the second time in the match, and in the 69th, Sergio Aguero made it 3-0 for City.
After that, Darren Fletcher scored a consolation for the Red Devils. However, from the 89th to the 93rd minute, City beat David de Gea in United's goal three more times. Edin Dzeko scored twice and David Silva once.
'Why always me?'
Let's go back to the first goal that opened the wild scoring of this Manchester derby in the 22nd minute. It was a marvellous footballing moment.
After great work from David Silva and James Milner, Mario Balotelli received the ball from the left with a back pass and with an angled, first-time shot from 18 yards, he beat United's Spanish goalkeeper.
Even more spectacular than the goal itself was the celebration that Balotelli performed. He rolled up his jersey, pulled it over his head, and with a stoic expression on his face displayed a slogan on an undershirt that read: 'Why always me?'
With that gesture, Balotelli was referring to several off-the-field stories that were being run about him at that time. One of the strangest happened just a day before this big match.
Balotelli decided to deal with his boredom on the previous Saturday night by setting off fireworks in the bathroom of his home. Firefighters and police had to come and deal with the situation.
Despite this, City manager Roberto Mancini included him in the starting lineup on the Sunday and Balotelli set off more fireworks at Old Trafford, in a different sort of way.
The ultimate end to a season
City managed to humble their rival as well overall in the season and they would go on to win the league title for the first time since 1968. They achieved that with one of the most exciting endings of the league season in history.
The title was clinched on the final day of the season. City defeated Queens Park Rangers 3-2, coming back from being down 2-1 with two injury-time goals just before the final whistle.
It was also the first Premier League title to be decided on goal difference, with City's winning goal against QPR coming 15 seconds after the final whistle blew at rivals United's 1-0 win at Sunderland, which would otherwise have sent the title to the red side of Manchester.
The 'golden goal' scorer and one of the architects of City's title was Sergio Aguero. He was one of the most notable signings to arrive at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2011.
City bought Aguero from Atletico Madrid for £36 million. In addition to him, the Sky Blues signed former Manchester United player Owen Hargreaves on a free transfer, and they had also spent big by acquiring Samir Nasri (£24 million) and Clichy (£10 million), both from Arsenal.
Apart from them and the aforementioned Kompany, Silva, Milner and Dzeko, the most important players of Manchester City's title season 2011/12 were goalkeeper Joe Hart, defenders Micah Richards and Pablo Zabaleta, and midfielders Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry.
From red to blue
The Manchester derby from October 2011 seemed to foreshadow that the whole city, as well as the whole of the Premier League, would gradually change from red to sky blue. United won (still their last) title in 2013. After that, their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson ended his time at the helm of the club.
In contrast, City have won the Premier League seven times since then, including four consecutive titles in the last four seasons. It's safe to say, their 6-1 derby win way back in 2021 was a turning point.
