The Manchester Derby

Early History

The first meeting between the two teams occurred on 12 November 1881, when St. Mark's (West Gorton) – who would later become Manchester City – hosted Newton Heath LYR – who would later become Manchester United. The game finished 3–0 in favour of Newton Heath and was described by the Ashton Reporter as "a pleasant game". At this time, the clubs were just two of many fledgling sides in the Manchester area, and the fixture had no special significance. Both clubs grew in stature as the 1880s progressed, leading to their first meeting of the 1890s being billed as "a meeting of two local clubs, Ardwick (City) just rising to the highest standard in the football world whilst (Newton Heath) are nearly in the front rank". The pair became the dominant teams in the Manchester area; the winner of the Manchester Cup was either Newton Heath or Ardwick every year between 1888 and 1893. Both teams joined the Football Alliance, a short-lived rival to the Football League. During this period both clubs made unsuccessful attempts to gain election to the League (Newton Heath in 1889, 1890 and 1891). Admission to the Football League finally came in 1892. Newton Heath joined the First Division, and Ardwick the new Second Division.

2010's

The seasons following City's takeover in 2008–09, saw two well-contested semi-final fixtures (League Cup and FA Cup) between the clubs. Controversy was generated prior to the start of the 2009–10 season, when City signed Carlos Tevez after his contract with United ended and erected a billboard reading "Welcome to Manchester" at the top of Deansgate. The billboard provoked Alex Ferguson into claiming City were a "small club with a small mentality" and subsequently called them "noisy neighbours" during the season.

The 2010–11 season featured three Manchester derbies, with one victory for United, one draw and one victory for City. The victory for United was at Old Trafford, where Wayne Rooney defined the game through a spectacular bicycle kick, this game gave United some space to overcome the rest of the season and get their 19th league title. City's win came in the FA Cup semi-final, knocking United out on the way to their ninth FA Cup Final, and their first trophy since 1976. Consequently, the Community Shield that began the 2011–12 season was a Manchester derby, as United won the league the same day City won the FA Cup, 14 May. United won the Community Shield 3–2 at Wembley, coming from two goals behind to clinch the Shield in stoppage time.

On 23 October 2011, Manchester City beat United 6–1 at Old Trafford, giving the latter their first defeat of the season. Jonny Evans was sent off in the 47th minute after fouling Mario Balotelli, with the score at 1–0 to City. United pulled a goal back at 3–0 down before three goals for City sealed their victory. The 6–1 score was the biggest defeat suffered by Manchester United against City at Old Trafford since the 5–0 loss in 1955. It was also the first time since 1926 that City had scored six at Old Trafford, when the score that day also finished 6–1. 

United and City met for the third time in the season in the third round of the FA Cup, resulting in a 3–2 win for United. The scoring opened in the tenth minute as Wayne Rooney headed neatly past stand-in keeper Costel Pantilimon, before Vincent Kompany received a red card in the 12th minute for a challenge on Nani. United went 3–0 up by half time, and successfully battled off a second half comeback from City in which they scored twice. The game was notable for the re-emergence of Paul Scholes, who came out of retirement and replaced Nani in the 59th minute. 

City beat United 1–0 at the City of Manchester Stadium on 30 April 2012, with Vincent Kompany scoring a header just before the half-time whistle. There was also a spat between City boss Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson after a challenge on Danny Welbeck by Nigel de Jong. Ferguson claimed that Mancini harangued the fourth official Mike Jones throughout the match, while Mancini laughed off the incident, sarcastically claiming Ferguson never talks to, or harangues the referee, an offence Ferguson has been found guilty of on numerous occasions, most recently in 2011 for which he received a five-match ban. Consequently, the win put City top of the league on goal difference after being 8 points behind in the league in March. Only two wins against Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers were required for City to win the league, which they subsequently achieved. City ultimately won the last six league matches to clinch the league title on goal difference – the first time a tie-breaker was used to decide the championship since 1988–89, and repeated the 1967–68 league season, when City pipped United to the title after both teams went into their final games level on points. 

Both clubs had managerial changes prior to the start of the 2016–17 campaign, with José Mourinho taking over Manchester United and Pep Guardiola taking over Manchester City. City arguably took the bragging rights that season, winning 2–1 at Old Trafford on 10 September in the league, before United won the League Cup tie 1–0 at Old Trafford en route to the title on 26 October, and a goalless draw at the City of Manchester Stadium on 27 April in which Marouane Fellaini was sent off for headbutting Sergio Agüero. In the 2017–18 season, City won 2–1 at Old Trafford for the second year in a row on 10 December, and had the chance to win the league with victory over United at the City of Manchester Stadium on 7 April. They led 2–0 at half-time, but two goals from Paul Pogba and one from Chris Smalling meant City had to wait to secure the title. However, City's victory against Tottenham the following weekend, combined with a defeat for United against West Bromwich Albion the next day, meant City won the title with five games to play. City did the double over United the following season, winning 3–1 at the City of Manchester Stadium, their first home derby win since 2014 and 2–0 at Old Trafford, their third away derby win in a row. In the 2019–20 campaign, United was again travelling first goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial secured their first win in the first derby fixture of the season for the first time since 2012–13. 

2020's 

The late 2010s and early 2020s saw City reach unprecedented levels of success, winning the league in five out of six seasons under the management of Pep Guardiola. Most of these seasons were characterised by closely fought title battles between Liverpool and City, and United were able to finish a distant second to City on a couple of occasions. However, their derby games continued to be competitive and mostly unpredictable. 

The first derbies of the 2020s came in a 2019–20 EFL Cup semi-final tie in January 2020. City's 3–1 win in the first leg at Old Trafford was enough to send them to their third successive EFL Cup final, as United were only able to produce a 1–0 win in the second leg at the City of Manchester Stadium. City went on to win their seventh EFL Cup, their third in a row and the fifth since 2014. 

The first league derby in this decade came exactly a week after City's EFL Cup triumph in March 2020. Played at Old Trafford, goals from Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay completed United's first league double over City since 2009–10 and proved to be their last home match to be watched by spectators before the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic started. 

The following COVID-19 affected season, the two clubs met once more in a EFL Cup semi-final. This was the fourth time the clubs had met at this stage of the competition and the third time in eleven years. For the second consecutive season, City came out on top, winning 2–0 at Old Trafford in a single-legged spectator-less fixture, thanks to goals from John Stones and Fernandinho, and so reached their ninth EFL Cup final, fourth consecutive final, and sixth in the previous eight seasons. In March 2021, United had their second successive league win at City for the first time since 2010, with another 2–0 victory and goals from Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw. 

In 2021–22, City were able to end their run of derby league home defeats and complete their first double over United in three seasons, with a 2–0 victory at Old Trafford in November 2021 and a convincing 4–1 win at the Etihad in March 2022, with braces from both Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez. 

In the first derby of the 2022–23 league season on 22 October 2022, City beat United at home 6–3, with two hat-tricks from Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. It was the highest-scoring Manchester derby of all time. On 14 January 2023, United beat City at home 2–1 in the second derby of the season, with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. The 2023 FA Cup final was the first time a Manchester derby has featured in a cup final, which Manchester City went on to win 2–1 on 3 June 2023, with City captain İlkay Gündoğan scoring after 12 seconds making it the fastest goal in FA Cup final history. In the 2023–24 season, City beat United 3–0 and 3–1, following goals from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden. 

Fans 

Although United fans currently view Liverpool as their main rivals, the rivalry between the two Manchester clubs intensified as football became tribal in the 1960s and 1970s, and strengthened again in the early 2010s with City's emergence as one of the top teams in England. Both Manchester clubs are regarded as among the best in the world, with both consistently progressing to the latter stages of UEFA competitions in recent years and both are in the top 5 of football clubs by revenue. The city is now viewed as a football city in similar vein to cities such as Madrid and Milan, although City's disappearance from the upper echelons of the league following their 1960s–70s heyday until their recent rise has led to the two teams being regarded as polar opposites, with City seen as the nouveau riche to United's old money. 

The two sets of fans are traditionally diametrically opposed to each other, with City's fans accusing United of arrogance and of attempting to turn the Premier League into a closed shop for elite clubs only via manipulation of the rules and of the media, while they in turn are accused of using their "oil money" as a route to success. 

Additionally, and in a unique twist on a cross-city rivalry, both clubs' fans accuse each other of not representing their city, with the blue half of the city observing that their adversaries do not actually play in the city of Manchester (in Trafford) and therefore do not warrant their name, while the red half instead argue over which team has more fans inside of the city. City fans often ridicule United fans for being tourists in a play towards United's global fan base, stating that City is the club for the locals and United fans travel up from London or fly in from Europe and Asia for a day out. Following on from this City fans have often called United "plastics" or "glory supporters" again in reference to their on the field dominance over several decades that made the club hugely popular with football supporters outside of Manchester, that even lead United captain Roy Keane to make a comment against his own supporters by calling them the "prawn sandwich brigade". In turn, owing to the growth of City's global status following their 2008 takeover which brought significant success on the field, United fans have said many "plastic" fans have jumped on City's bandwagon. 

The most commonly used name by City fans to describe their cross-city rivals is the term "The Rags", this is due to a period after World War II where United were given use of City's Maine Road stadium after Old Trafford had been bombed by the Luftwaffe. United at the time were so poor that they had to wear old kits that after a while started to resemble old rags. As well in the past sections of the City support have been known to use the term "Munichs" to describe fans of United, in reference to the Munich air disaster, which has been described as both derogatory and insensitive. United often ridicule City by calling them "Citeh", which pokes fun at the way the word is pronounced phonetically with a Mancunian accent, City fans in turn have stated the fact that United are mocking the accent as a sign that their fanbase does not predominantly come from Manchester. United fans also refer to City supporters as "Bitters" or "Berties" after the character "Bertie Magoo the Bitter Blue" who appeared in a United fanzine in 1989. City fans refer to United's stadium as "The Swamp", which is said to originate from its position in an area which has a substantial man-made canal network, while United fans refer to the City of Manchester Stadium as the "Emptyhad", in reference to its sponsored name, Etihad Stadium, and the widely-held belief by some fans that there are many empty seats at some City home games due to a lack of devoted supporters, despite City being amongst the top five highest-attended teams in the League. 

Statistics and Data 

1. Meetings total :192 
2. Most wins Manchester United (78) 
3. Most player appearances Ryan Giggs (36) 
4. Top scorer Wayne Rooney (11) 
5. All-time series City: 61 Drawn: 53 United: 78 
6. Largest victory United 1–6 City (1926) United 0–5 City (1955) United 5–0 City (1994) United 1–6 City (2011) 
7. Largest goal scoring City 6–3 United (2022) 
8. Longest win streak 8 games United (1993–2000) 
9. Longest unbeaten streak 16 games United (1990–2001) 
10. Current win streak 3 games City (2023–present)