Source: Alamy Stock Photo.
From seven-goal thrillers to stunning comebacks, we rank the greatest ever matches between Manchester United and Manchester City.
With the 196th Manchester derby coming up at the start of April, we take a look at some of the best meetings between two sides that have produced a gigantic 553 derby goals between them.
Top 10 Manchester Derby matches ever
20th September, 2009 – Manchester United 4-3 Manchester City
A year after the purchase of Manchester City, the dominant force in the north west looked to put their blue neighbours in their place as Wayne Rooney opened the scoring in the second minute, but the road to victory was a rocky one for the hosts.
The two sides traded blows for the full 90 minutes in this seven-goal thriller, where Craig Bellamy’s injury-time strike looked to have earned a point for City before Michael Owen’s 96th-minute finish sealed a sensational three points for Man Utd.
23rd October, 2011 – Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City
The first Manchester derby of the 2011/12 season produced an avalanche of second-half goals and a result that, in hindsight, represented a changing of the guard in Manchester, when the noisy neighbours became the predominant force.
A hail mary from the 10 men of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side allowed the Citizens to rack up five goals in the second half, with three of those coming in the 90th minute or later.
Roberto Mancini’s side went on to win the Premier League title on goal difference, making this 10-goal swing instrumental in landing City’s first-ever Premier League title.
9th December, 2012 – Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United
A Wayne Rooney double inside the first half an hour set the pace at the Etihad Stadium but City, putting on their first Premier League title defence, didn’t take things lying down as they mounted a second-half comeback.
Goals from Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta levelled things, but a last-gasp deflected free-kick from Robin van Persie saw the Red Devils return to the other side of Manchester with all three points, helping them to the title in Ferguson’s last season in charge.
27th October, 1990 – Manchester City 3-3 Manchester United
Despite finishing just outside the relegation zone the season before, an FA Cup win over Crystal Palace gave Alex Ferguson his first major trophy for Man Utd and bolstered confidence at Old Trafford, but that confidence was on the rocks as they trailed City yet again at Maine Road the following season.
However, a three-minute double in the final 10 minutes from Brian McClair earned a valuable point for the struggling United side in the last season for 21 years in which City finished above the Red Devils.
8th November, 2002 – Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United
Fan-favourite Shaun Goater played a starring role for City in the final Manchester derby at Maine Road, despite the player who looked to have sealed his exit from the club, Nicolas Anelka, scoring a fourth-minute opener for the hosts.
Another fan-favourite, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, levelled soon after, but that is when Goater stepped up to the plate, putting City ahead before half-time and then notching his 100th goal for the club with a chipped finish five minutes into the second period.
12th February, 2011 – Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City
While the game itself wasn’t anything special, this mid-season meeting will be remembered for one of the greatest goals ever scored in the Premier League.
With Nani’s first-half opener cancelled out by David Silva, the game was tied at 1-1 heading into the closing stages, but the top scorer in the Manchester derby, Wayne Rooney, had something to say about the matter.
The Englishman swivelled to meet Nani’s deflected cross, leapt into the air and smashed a sensational overhead kick into the top corner of Joe Hart’s net.
6th November, 1993 – Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United
The season after landing their first league title since the 1960s, United found themselves 2-0 down at 16th-placed City thanks to Niall Quinn’s headed double, but a fresh-faced Roy Keane would prove to be the hero in his first-ever Manchester derby.
Eric Cantona scored a brace to bring the Red Devils back into the game before Keane repaid some of his record-breaking transfer fee by smashing home the winner, helping the club to a second Premier League title.
7th April, 2018 – Manchester City 2-3 Manchester United
City went into this spring derby knowing that a victory would not only grant them the bragging rights in Manchester, but also allow them to seal the Premier League title at the expense of their arch-rivals, and things started well for Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders.
Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan put the Citizens in the driving seat, but the mercurial Paul Pogba scored a two-minute brace before Chris Smalling emerged as an unlikely hero to prod home the winner.
A blue onslaught followed, but United held on for the victory and while City still won the title by a landslide, Jose Mourinho’s silver medal in the 2017/18 season is looking more and more impressive by the year.
22nd September, 1989 – Manchester City 5-1 Manchester United
Mark Hughes’s excellent bicycle kick provided a rare highlight for United, but a torrid defensive display allowed a rampant City to rack up a thumping victory, announcing their return to the top flight after a season in the second tier.
2nd October, 2022 – Manchester City 6-3 Manchester United
By the time these sides met in October, Erling Haaland had silenced any doubters of his Premier League credentials with 11 goals in City’s first seven league games. Many expected Pep Guardiola’s side to run riot at the Etihad, and that is exactly what happened.
Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick in three successive home games and provided the assist for two of Phil Foden’s three goals.
A late double from Anthony Martial saw the game end as the highest-scoring Manchester derby in history, with 6-3 being a flattering scoreline for the beleaguered Red Devils.