While Manchester City are currently off the pace a little in the Premier League in 2023/24, the calendar year as a whole has been truly unforgettable.
City actually started 2023 in a bit of a strange place, with the team having had some poor results.
The defeat to Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-final was one of the worst performances under Pep Guardiola, but it was a significant result because from there, City – playing in a different style with an overload of centre-backs – became rampant.
Manchester City News reflects on three of the very best moments from 2023…
Ilkay Gundogan scores fastest-ever FA Cup final goal against Manchester United
City had already wrapped up the Premier League title and were gunning for their second of hopefully three trophies in the FA Cup.
Bitter rivals Manchester United were City’s opponents at Wembley Stadium, and there were certainly nerves going into the game. After all, it was a one-off cup final and anything could happen.
But the nerves were settled fairly quickly when City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored just 13 seconds into the game.
Some fans were still pouring into the stadium and taking up their seats as the German lashed in a brilliant volley to prompt scenes of bedlam.
It was the quickest goal ever scored in an FA Cup final, and Gundogan would scored a second goal for City after Bruno Fernandes had equalised from the penalty spot.
While it was only a 2-1 scoreline, it was relatively comfortable for City, and the perfect result to prepare for the Champions League final with Inter.
Erling Haaland breaks Premier League goalscoring record against West Ham
Everyone knew Erling Haaland would score goals for City when he signed in the summer of 2022 from Borussia Dortmund – but no one really anticipated just how lethal he would be in his first season in English football.
Haaland wasted a plethora of chances in the Community Shield against Liverpool, but this only served as fuel for the Norwegian, who quickly set about finding the back of the net in the Premier League.
After just five Premier League games he’d scored nine goals. By his ninth league game, he’d already scored three hat-tricks for City.
What Haaland was doing was special, and many felt that he was going to break the record for most goals in a single Premier League season.
He would of course go on to do that, when West Ham United came to the Etihad Stadium in early May. His goal against the Hammers – a lovely chipped finish – was his 35th in the Premier League, which moved him one ahead of previous record holders Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.
Haaland would then score one more against Leeds United to make it 36, which is a tally that may well stand for a long time.
Rodri scores against Inter in the Champions League final and Man City win the Treble
The biggest game in the club’s history needed someone to step up and answer the call to arms.
It wasn’t going to be Kevin De Bruyne, who had been forced off in the first-half with a hamstring injury, so someone else was going to have to deliver.
There were top performances in Istanbul against Inter from John Stones and Ederson, but it was Rodri who provided City fans with an unforgettable moment.
The £63 million man popped up on the edge of the box to side-foot Bernardo Silva’s deflected cross past Andre Onana, in what was probably the biggest Manchester City moment since the Sergio Aguero last-gasp winner against QPR.
The Rodri goal didn’t come quite as late, and City had to sustain some late Inter pressure, but it was every bit as iconic as Aguero’s goal, and of course, it resulted in the club completing an historic Treble.
City didn’t actually play very well on the night, but it has got to be the greatest night in the club’s entire history given what was achieved.
