Manchester City have had the better of Manchester United for the most part over the past 10 years or so.
While the Citizens have become one of the biggest clubs in England, the Red Devils are a shadow of the team they used to be.
However, even when the tables were turned, Manchester City got the better of Manchester United on several occasions during derbies.
Indeed, one derby just over two decades ago saw City beat United so badly that there was talk of Sir Alex Ferguson losing his job.
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Manchester City ran riot in the first derby at their new stadium
In the 2003/04 campaign, Man City ended up finishing 16th in the table, while Man United’s third-placed finish was seen as a crushing disappointment.
However, the form book often goes out of the window in derbies, as was the case the previous season, when Man City ran out 3-1 winners in the final Maine Road derby.
And on Sunday 14 March 2004, the first Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium was even more devastating for United.
Robbie Fowler opened the scoring for City in just the third minute when he touched the ball in, before Jon Macken volleyed home against the run of play on 20 minutes.
Although Paul Scholes reduced the deficit with a 20-yard strike on 35 minutes, City regained their three-goal lead through Trevor Sinclair’s 73rd-minute effort.
Fan favourite Shaun Wright-Phillips then added gloss to the scoreline with a superb drive in the 90th minute of the game.
Kevin Keegan’s side, along with the home fans, celebrated heartily, while the red side went in dejected at the end of a torrid week.
Sir Alex Ferguson was being tipped to lose his job after derby humiliation
United’s loss at City left them 12 points adrift of Arsenal, who were yet to lose a league game at that stage – surely the Gunners couldn’t remain unbeaten all season?
United were also out of the Champions League, having been knocked out by Porto, a team managed by an exciting young coach by the name of Jose Mourinho.
At the time, commentators and pundits were claiming that Ferguson’s race at Old Trafford had been run.
For instance, The Independent’s James Lawton and the Sun’s John Sadler likened Ferguson to “the boxer who insists on a fight too far”.
Indeed, many bookies were also tipping Ferguson to be out of a job by the end of the year, as reported by The Guardian at the time.
Ferguson had received the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ by the Man United board not long after the derby defeat, as per the same outlet.
In the end, Ferguson would remain at United for another nine years.
And considering how badly the Red Devils have fared since he left, their downfall may well have started much earlier had he left or been sacked all the way back in 2004.
