The new expanded Etihad Stadium will officially open for season 2015/16 with an increased capacity of 55,000 seats. To celebrate this occasion we’ve looked back through the years at all the action that’s taken place at the Etihad Stadium and picked out some of the very best moments. Today we look at 20-11...
20. First Premier League goal
City’s Premier League life at the Etihad Stadium was heading for an ignominious beginning before David Sommeil’s last gasp intervention against Portsmouth. The French defender crashed home a header to rescue a 1-1 draw against Harry Redknapp’s men after Ayegbeni Yakubu’s opener. The late drama in the Etihad Stadium’s DNA was apparent from the beginning!
19. 4-1 derby win v United in 2013
City blew derby rivals United away with a powerhouse performance to delight the home crowd. Volleys were the order of this sunny day, with arguably the pick of the bunch Sergio Aguero’s clipped left-foot finish that flashed past David de Gea after 16 minutes. Yaya Toure’s close range effort was followed up by Aguero’s second and another from Samir Nasri as City enjoyed another demolition derby.
18. Dzeko’s goal v Aston Villa, 2014
City were closing on the 2013/14 Premier League title but needed victory against Aston Villa to ease their path. As the game against Aston Villa passed the hour mark, tension was rising inside the Etihad Stadium as Manuel Pellegrini’s men had failed to find the breakthrough. Dzeko did it and the relief around the ground was palpable... City were heading for glory!
17. Balotelli’s penalty v Spurs
With Spurs fighting back from 2-0 down to 2-2 and almost taking the lead on 90 minutes through Jermain Defoe, City launched one final attack and as Mario Balotelli wriggled free of Ledley King, the Spurs man’s clumsy challenge was deemed a penalty by the referee. Who else would you want in a situation like that? Mario coolly slotted the ball past Brad Friedel to give his team a crucial 3-2 win and boost the Blues’ title bid.
16 Phil Brown’s half-time team-talk
With City going 4-0 up inside 36 minutes, the half-time break couldn’t come quickly enough for Hull boss Phil Brown – what nobody expected was that he’d do his team-talk on the pitch at the break in front of 3,000 travelling Tigers fans! He later explained: “Our fans deserved some kind of explanation for the first-half performance and it was difficult for me to do that from the confines of a changing room. We owed them an apology for the first-half performance.” City went on to win 5-1 but the whole episode was somewhat surreal.
15 Tevez solo goal v Chelsea
Carlos Tevez enjoys a goal against Chelsea but his solo effort against the West Londoners in 2010 was special even by his standards. Collecting the ball from around the halfway line, he drove forward with purpose before pulling ball back across Petr Cech and in off the far post to end the visitors’ 100% record and win three vital points for the Blues.
14 Jesus Navas’ lightning strike
Everything about Jesus Navas says speed, including this goal. Just 13 seconds passed between referee Howard Webb blowing his whistle and Navas’ angled, curling shot finding the top corner. Spurs were hit for six, literally, and City went on a 20-game unbeaten run.
13 David James goes up front
Stuart Pearce decided if City needed goals late on against Middlesbrough he’d launch his secret weapon – goalkeeper David James! A bemused looking Claudio Reyna was substituted, Nicky Weaver came on in goal and James changed to an outfield shirt and proceeded to cause havoc in the Boro defence, eventually resulting in a penalty in injury time, so you’d have to say it worked!
12 De Jong ends drought
It had to happen – we’d waited so long – so thank goodness it happened on home turf! When an Aleks Kolarov corner was cleared to the edge of the box against West Ham in 2011, Nigel de Jong was waiting 25 yards out and, after three years without a goal for City, he hit a low drive into the corner of Robert Green’s goal to end one of the longest drought’s in City’s recent history.
11 Aguero hat-trick v Bayern Munich
Almost everyone had written off City’s chances of qualifying from the Champions League group stages before this game. At 2-1 down against German giants Bayern, those predictions seemed spot on. The doom mongers hadn’t counted on Sergio Aguero, though. The little Argentinian completed a memorable European hat-trick with goals on 85 and 89 minutes to lay the platform for City’s progress in miraculous style.
Make sure you check back next week for moments 10-1!
Seasoncard Renewals for 2015/16 are live now. Don’t miss a moment of next season and renew your seat now at mcfc.co.uk/renew
