Over the past few seasons, some of Sunderland’s most memorable games have come against Manchester City, with Sunderland beating City 1-0 in four home games on the bounce. Sunderland overall have an average record against Man City, playing 140 games, winning 50, losing 65 and drawing 25 of those games.
The Best
Sunderland 1-0 Manchester City – 01/01/2012
Surely this will not be disputed as one of the best games vs City in the recent years. A very good game, despite goalless until beyond the 90th minute. Sunderland hosted City on the very first day of 2012. Sunderland sat 13th in the table at the time, with City occupying 1st place. A Sunderland side which featured O’Shea, Brown, Larsson and Cattermole as the only current players to play, scored a last minute winner. Ji Dong-Won stepped up off the bench and came on for loanee Nicklas Bendtner with 12 minutes plus injury time to go. A mistake by the linesman gifted Sunderland the win when offside Ji ran the ball inside the City penalty area and beat Joe Hart. A personal favourite game due to the magnitude of the win, and the fantastic atmosphere in the stadium. What a way to ring in the New Year.
Manchester City 3-3 Sunderland 31/03/2012
A game chosen from the same season, not because of the result, but the game itself. Saying that, drawing away at the Etihad is never a bad result, however, Sunderland managed to throw away a 2 goal lead, with less than 10 minutes to go. Sunderland put themselves 1-0 in front when Seb Larsson converted Sessegnon’s pass to continue his fine form that season. However, Craig Gardner brought down Edin Dzeko, and Balotelli converted from the spot. Still before half-time, Sunderland got themselves back in front, with Sessegnon receiving the ball and again assisting for Bendtner to head home. In the 55th minute, Sessegnon, a real crowd favourite and understandably so seeing his performance in this game, robbed the ball from Yaya Toure, fed Bendtner who unselfishly crossed allowing Larsson to score his second. Sadly, in the 85th minute Balotelli scored his second of the game, with Kolarov scoring just 69 seconds later to secure the draw for City.
The Worst
Sunderland 1-4 Manchester City 03/12/2014
As per usual, Sunderland fans were hopeful going into the game, given the previous home meetings with Manchester City, with the Black Cats winning all of the previous four home games 1-0. Off to a flying start, Wickham opened the scoring firing his shot past Joe Hart in the 19th minute. Even more optimism was present with Sunderland fans hoping to turn City over 5 years in a row. The clinical Aguero scored from the edge of the box before Jovetic managed to squeeze his shot under Pantilimon’s legs to take a 2-1 lead into half time. Sadly, the second half got even worse with Zabaleta scoring an exquisite chip over Costel before Aguero added his second.
Manchester City 5-0 Sunderland 03/04/2011
A game that sat in between the first 2 1-0 home wins for Sunderland, quickly the game was taken away from the Black Cats. Current Sunderland player Adam Johnson opened the scoring after a one-two with City talisman Yaya Toure, with a Carlos Tevez penalty doubling City’s lead after just 15 minutes. Tevez doubled his tally for the game before Viera scored with his first touch of the game to make it 4-0. To add insult to injury, a poor pass allowed Toure to nip in and make it 5-0.
The Unforgettable
Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland 02/03/2014
This date is certainly one that most Sunderland fans will never be able to forget. Sunderland were faced with Manchester City in the Capital One Cup Final, in which the Black Cats were aiming for their first trophy since 1973, whereas Manchester City were looking for their first piece of silverware since Pellegrini took over. Sunderland took a deserving lead into halftime, with loanee and current player Fabio Borini slotting home a decent shot past current Sunderland stopper Costel Pantilimon. Sunderland continued their good start to the game, missing some decent chances in the first half to extend their lead. The Sunderland end was bouncing the entire half, with the players seeming to be thriving under it. Sadly the great performance had to come to an end, with Yaya Toure scoring an excellent goal from outside the Sunderland area, looping over Mannone and into the top corner. A minute later, another decent strike from outside of the box, from Nasri this time, put City into the lead. While Sunderland were doing all they could in order to score and equaliser, Navas put the game to bed in the 90th minute. A very spirited performance meant they were unlucky to come away from the match runners-up in the final.
