As City prepare to take on rivals Liverpool in this Saturday’s Premier League clash, I look back on three notable clashes of old with The Reds to get us all in the mood for what is expected to be an entertaining fixture.
City 2 Liverpool 1- 2013/14 season
With The Reds flying in top-spot coming into this game, the stakes were high in a season in which these two teams would fight for the league title- a battle which City remarkably won. This fixture was only second on the list when the games were released; but with Brendan Rodger’s team brushing aside West Brom in the opening game, a rejuvenated Liverpool outfit- spearheaded by the dangerous Luis Suarez and current-City man Raheem Sterling- fancied their chances at The Etihad.
This certainly looked like it was going to be the case when Phillipe Coutinho put the Scousers ahead after just ten minutes.
City saw this as a wake-up call and began to press; getting their reward before the break with Vincent Kompany rising highest from a corner to power us level; before one-season wonder Alvaro Negredo expertly fired us into the lead with a strike which Simon Mignolet perhaps should have dealt with when the Spaniard was in on goal.
City demonstrated expertise at the back to resist a number of Liverpool attacks in the second half; holding out well for the three points which ultimately made a massive difference to the final standings. Had City not held onto this win, then their counterparts from just along the M62 would have inevitably been enjoying Premier League success.
Thankfully though, this game was pivotal in the title race; enabling us to finish two points above the Reds and collect our second Premier League title (two more than them, in actual fact) in what was a thoroughly eventful season.
City 3 Liverpool 1- 2014/15 season
Coming off the back of a monumental Premier League triumph at the end of the last campaign, City began the new season fresh and determined to defend their Premier League crown. As we know, this did not work out too well for us, with a strong Chelsea side finishing eight points clear at the top to snatch the coveted trophy away from our grasp.
However, we did start the opening two games in fine form and this included a convincing win against a Liverpool side seemingly wounded by the efforts of last season. They went on to finish outside the top four in this campaign, and this was typified in a solid City performance from City in September 2014; a game in which Mario Balotelli sat in the stands at his old ground; possibly wondering why he ever chose to leave for the Reds from Milan.
Stevan Jovetic- one of City’s costly flops- helped himself to two goals in what was probably one of the Montenegrin’s most impressive performances in a blue shirt. The ever-clinical Sergio Aguero added gloss to the score-line with a well-take goal on the 70 minute mark, showing the Reds just how much the Blues deserved to pip them to the title last time out.
Pablo Zabaleta scored an own goal during the remaining embers of the game but it couldn’t take away a strong City performance in which they completely dominated a team which so nearly beat them to the league last term.
City 3 Liverpool 0- 2010/11 season
In what was Sheikh Mansour’s first visit to the Etihad, City delivered a fantastic performance against Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool to show their new owner that he had invested his money well.
Ironically, this was also James Milner’s debut for City against a side he would eventually go onto join four years later, and he marked his debut with an assist- setting up Gareth Barry to steer the ball past Pepe Reina and slot City into the lead.
City had embarked on a £130 million spending spree before this campaign, with Milner just one of the new recruits; alongside Carlos Tevez and David Silva; making his mark at the Etihad.
Carlos Tevez grabbed himself a double- one from the penalty spot- to record a 3-0 win for City in the days of Fernando Torres and David Ngog for the Reds.
Micah Richards was the provider for the second, firing a goal-bound cross into the box which he may feel Tevez failed to touch, but the Argentine wheeled away in celebration nonetheless. The penalty came when Adam Johnson was hauled down in the box by Martin Skrtel to send City on their way to a morale-boosting win.
Do you have any more memories of past #MCFC v #LFC encounters? If so, let us know in the comments or tweet us @ReadManCity.
This weekend’s game also comes after both Read Network sites- Read Man City and Read Liverpool- are nominated for an award at this year’s Football Blogging Awards (FBA’s) in Manchester on Thursday 19th November. Good luck to both sites!
