With 75% of the vote, there was a clear winner - so without further ado, let’s see what it was...
City 5-0 Sunderland, 3 April 2011
The Blues welcomed Steve Bruce’s side to the Etihad Stadium, looking to extend the gap between themselves and Tottenham in the race for a top-four spot.
A scintillating display ensured that feat would be achieved, and prompted some to tip Roberto Mancini’s men for a top-two finish as the victory left City just three points behind second-placed Arsenal.
The manner of the triumph impressed the footballing world but perhaps not Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who watched from the stands, ahead of his side’s upcoming FA Cup semi-final against their ‘noisy neighbours’.
In a clinical and dominant performance, it took just nine minutes for the hosts to open the scoring through Adam Johnson and Carlos Tevez doubled the lead just six minutes later.
After the break, the Blues continued where they left off, as Yaya Toure also found the net to put their opponents to the sword.
The win would prove crucial at the end of the season. City finished third - three points above Arsenal - to secure automatic Champions League qualification for the first time.
In a record-breaking campaign, Mancini’s men also lifted a major trophy - the FA Cup - for the first time since 1976, emerging victorious in the final against Stoke after defeating Ferguson’s United in the semis!
Match highlights
Starting XIs
City: Hart, Boyata (McGivern 70), Kolarov, Kompany, Lescott, De Jong, Y Toure, Silva (Wright-Phillips 70), A Johnson (Vieira 66), Tevez, Balotelli
Unused subs: Taylor, Barry, Milner, Dzeko
Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley (Elmohamaday 46), Ferdinand, Turner, Mensah, Sessegnon, Henderson (Zenden 59) Cattermole, Muntari (Colback 72), Welbeck, Gyan
Unused subs: Gordon, Malbranque, Adams, Lynch
Key moments
9’ - Johnson plays a wonderful one-two with Toure, controlling well in the area and wrong-footing Simon Mignolet
14’ - City are awarded a penalty as Phil Bardsley upends Tevez
15’ - Tevez converts the spot-kick
63’ - Silva makes it 3-0, pouncing from close range after Mario Balotelli’s effort was blocked
67’ - Vieira scores with his first touch of the game, somehow managing to connect with Aleks Kolarov‘s drilled cross and forcing the ball just over the line
73’ - Toure completes the scoring, battling to latch on to Lee Cattermole’s poor backpass and dinking the ball home
Man of the Match
Reaction
“If City are only now running into peak form, they couldn’t be timing it better. A fantastic display with everyone contributing, particularly the rock solid central pairing of Kompany and Lescott who have rarely played better. A great day to be a Blue!” - David Clayton, MCFC
“City could have easily made it more convincing but in contrast to recent performances, it was a showing full of purpose and promise marked by a change in the line-up and formation.” - Alistair Magowan, BBC Sport
“With Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson on a scouting trip ahead of the FA Cup semi-final against City later this month, Mancini’s players produced their most impressive attacking display of the campaign to underline the challenge facing United at Wembley on Apr 16.” - Mark Ogden, the Telegraph
“Roberto Mancini’s team were superior in every department. They chased and they harried and, in the key areas, they had a touch of class that made it an ordeal for their opponents. The pressure on the Sunderland goal was almost unrelenting and there was a sorry look about Steve Bruce’s team, like a side already counting down the days to the summer.” - Daniel Taylor, the Guardian
“For after a blip which threatened to undermine their chances of a top-four finish, City have rediscovered their swagger and showed no mercy in demolishing Sunderland.” - Mirror Football
