it’s one of the oldest fixtures either club has with a rich history stretching back to the 1890s. Both sides have found major success with City’s first major trophy coming in 1904 and Arsenal’s arriving 26 years later. As you’d expect with such a long history there are plenty of articles on my website about both clubs. Here’s a link to all those tagged Arsenal:
Tag Archives: Arsenal
The 2020s: Victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach
On this day (16 March) in 2021 City faced Monchengladbach in the second leg of this Champions League round of 16 tie. They had won the first leg 2-0 and went on to match that scoreline in this second leg. Due to Covid restrictions both legs of this tie were played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest and so this game enters the record books as one of the few home games not played in Manchester by the Blues.
City started the game without a recognised centre forward as both Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero were on the bench, but Pep Guardiola’s side were in control from the start. The German team were unable to cope with City’s quality, passing, creativity and movement.
The opening goal came when Kevin De Bruyne scored a wonderful 20 yard left footed strike after only twelve minutes. This was the 100th goal scored by City in all competitions this season. Six minutes later Ilkay Gundogan slotted the ball past the Monchengladbach ‘keeper following a great run and pass from Phil Foden.
Pep Guardiola enjoyed the victory: ‘It was a good performance; we controlled the game from the beginning. Players like Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva have a lot of quality, they help us a lot, but everyone was so committed and we’re delighted to be in the next stage. We now have everybody fit. That’s why we can rotate six or seven players. If you want to compete for competitions, you have to be fresh. The seasons are so long, we haven’t had one long week [off] since October.’
Post match the statisticians enjoyed highlighting a variety of City achievements. These included a couple of odd facts such as: Half of Monchengladbach’s defeats (5 out of 10) in the Champions League have been by City. City were also one of one three teams (AC Milan & Arsenal) to have kept seven consecutive clean sheets in the competition’s history.
Match Stats
16 March 2021
Manchester City 2 (De Bruyne & Gundogan) Borussia Monchengladbach 0
Attendance 0 (Covid restrictions)
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Manchester City 1 Wigan 0
A difficult League game at home to Wigan saw the Blues win 1-0 on this day (5 March) in 2011, but it had been a laboured victory with City looking somewhat tired. Journalist Paul Wilson described the goal: ‘City got lucky when the normally reliable Ali al-Habsi allowed David Silva’s tame first-half shot to slip through his fingers and trickle between his legs, though in the context of the way Arsenal dropped two home points on the same afternoon luck is not something to be sniffed at. At least City had the gumption to settle for the points and a flat performance, instead of taking risks trying to be entertaining.’
City were suffering with several injuries and manager Roberto Mancini believed his side had been performing exceptionally well considering the issues. He claimed the squad was thin compared to the other title challengers: ‘Every other team has 20 or 22 players to choose from and you need that if you are playing every three days. We only have 15 or 16 at present. When we recover all our players it will not be a problem, but since January we have been unlucky with niggling injuries and now we have just lost Kolo [via a suspension].’
Writing in the Guardian Paul Wilson had some sympathy: ‘Mancini could be right about the team finding themselves in a difficult moment. The Europa League demands a trip to Kiev on Thursday, just about the last thing a team in need of a rest would fancy, and after the return leg the next league fixture is Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A home FA Cup tie against Reading on Sunday ought to provide some respite, though City will only arrive back in the country in the small hours of Friday morning and on the evidence of their efforts against Wigan no one will be taking anything for granted.’
The 2020s: Victory over Swansea
On this day (10 February) in 2021 Manchester City travelled to Swansea for a FA Cup tie. It was another record-breaking day for Pep Guadiola’s team.
City defeated Swansea 3-1 to progress to the quarter-finals but the victory set a record for successive domestic wins by an English top-flight club, surpassing the previous best of 14 achieved by Preston in 1891-92 and Arsenal in 1987-88. Talking about City’s 15th consecutive win Guardiola commented: ‘It shows how special these players are. And we think of the next one. I know we broke a record of all-time. To do what we have done so far is quite remarkable. The record will be broken for sure, because sports is like this, but it means a lot, to do what we have done in the winter time and Christmas time is quite remarkable. It is the toughest time, but what is important is the way we are still playing with our consistency.’
City’s goals were scored by Kyle Walker (30 mins), Raheem Sterling (47) and Gabriel Jesus (50), with Morgan Whittaker (77) scoring a late consolation goal for Swansea at the Liberty Stadium.
City have highlights here:
https://www.mancity.com/citytv/mens/swansea-city-v-manchester-city-63748586
Arsenal 0 Manchester City 1
On this day (29 November) in 2011 Manchester City defeated Arsenal 1-0 with an 83rd minute goal from Sergio Aguero. You can watch highlights below:
Top Two Divisions Attendances and Table From 40 Years Ago!
Last week I posted the top flight attendances for this last week forty years ago and this led to a number of comments/questions and so to answer some of those I’ve now posted the top two divisions attendances together with the two League tables AND the end of season average attendances. People asked for clarity on how the figures compared to the second tier and whether League position played its part in affecting crowds. As a reminder here’s last week’s attendances…
And here’s this week’s (published 24 November 1985) and the League table too.
Obviously, these are only snapshots from that season but to add a bit more context here are the end of season averages here are the top 46 best supported clubs in order that season (hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first):
A few notable League positions for those who do sing ‘Where Were You?’… The top eight clubs in the League were: Liverpool (champions), Everton, West Ham, Man Utd, Sheff Wed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest. Manchester City (who were 4th best supported club) were 15th (only 4 points above relegation zone), Spurs were tenth, Newcastle 11th and Aston Villa 16th.
In the Second Division best supported club Sunderland were 18th (avoiding relegation by 4 points); the top four were Norwich, Charlton, Wimbledon and Portsmouth.
If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!
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Attendances 40 Years Ago!
These two results tables for top flight football in November 1985 make interesting reading. I’ve included the details published today (17 November, for games played the previous day) in 1985 and also the week after’s details too. This gives an idea of what the top clubs were attracting back then. Notice West Ham’s game attracted more at home than Arsenal’s and that Liverpool were over 26,000 less than Manchester United. Arsenal’s crowd was 6,000 less than struggling Manchester City and Tottenham attracted more than Arsenal too. Reigning League champions Everton were some way ahead of the London clubs and only about 600 behind Liverpool. Obviously, these are only snapshots from two weekends but hopefully it might make those who sing songs like ‘Where Were You?’ think about the crowds at their own clubs first.
the Marwood scoring for Sheffield Wednesday was of course Brian Marwood who went on to play a key part in Manchester City’s modern return to glory. If you’d like to know more about Manchester City at this time, here’s a 2,500 word subscriber feature on the 1985-86 season. Enjoy!
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Arsenal Lose At Home To Manchester City – Classic Action From 1971
Here’s film of the 13 November 1971 meeting between Arsenal and Manchester City at Highbury which ended 2-1 to City. The City scorers are Ian ‘Spider’ Mellor and Colin Bell. Well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wzpZ3g0aG8
You can find out more about the 1971-72 season for Manchester City in the this 4,700 word article on the entire season – a hugely significant season though one that’s often neglected. This is available to subscribers below. Enjoy!
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If you enjoy all the free material on my website and would like to support my research and keep this website going (but don’t want to subscribe) then why not make a one-time donation (or buy me a coffee). All support for my research is valued and welcome. It allows me to keep some free material available for all. Thanks.
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Lessons From History: MCFC 2020 & 2025
It’s part of the football circus these days that occasional defeats are greeted as devastating occurences. Social media goes into meltdown; shock jock style radio stations begin to predict the end of eras and even the BBC seems to take a ‘your all doomed’ approach if you lose a game. After City’s narrow defeat at Villa last week the BBC’s website stated: ‘In the context of the title race, there are concerning signs for City’ and elsewhere on the BBC there were fans quoted complaining about the weaknesses in the team. So, to take a more reasoned view I decided to take a look at the 2020-21 season when similar reporting occurred of City’s games. Back then pundits like the former Arsenal player Martin Keown were highly critical of City. After five games of the 2020-21 season City were 12th and Keown said: ‘there’s certainly some rebuilding to be done. We will see how good Pep really is now; he’s got to rebuild the team.’
Those Keown comments are similar to some being aired at the moment about City being rebuilt etc. Pep proved back then (I wonder if he chatted to Keown about his comments in 2020?) how good he was.
Back in 2020-21 City lost to Tottenham in their eighth League game. That put Spurs top and some began predicting the London club may manage to actually win the league. Similarly, some predicted that City were too unpredictable to lift the title. The statistic often quoted that weekend was that City’s points total of 12 from eight games was the club’s lowest at that stage since 2008-09. Very similar style comments to this season when the BBC quoted (after the Villa defeat): ‘City have lost three of their opening nine games in the Premier League this season (W5 D1), with the Cityzens last suffering more defeats at this stage of a league campaign in 2008-09 (four).‘
As a direct comparison it’s worth noting that City are two points behind where they were five years ago, and in both seasons faced criticism. Remarkably City ended up winning the Premier League in 2020-21 by 12 points and the early season leaders Spurs finished seventh. Some pundits and journalists would later rewrite history and go on to talk as if the 2020-21 title race had been a foregone conclusion with City ‘dominating football’ like no other team had ever done before (it was ‘bad’ for football, blah, blah blah). They talked negatively about other teams not standing a chance etc. but that is so wrong.
So, what am I going on about. Well, if 2020-21 shows us anything it is that no league title is decided so early in the season. Nor does a defeat mean all is lost. City are currently two points behind where they were in that remarkable 2020-21 season, when they won the title by 12 points. Imagine if that happened again? I know it’s doubtful and Arsenal are certainly a better team than they were back then and Spurs were too. But football’s unpredictable and anything is possible.
For those wondering here are 2020-21’s results at this stage followed by a table with this season’s:
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Points |
| 21/09/2020 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3-1 | 3 |
| 27/09/2020 | Leicester City | H | 2-5 | 0 |
| 03/10/2020 | Leeds United | A | 1-1 | 1 |
| 17/10/2020 | Arsenal | H | 1-0 | 3 |
| 24/10/2020 | West Ham United | A | 1-1 | 1 |
| 31/10/2020 | Sheffield United | A | 1-0 | 3 |
| 08/11/2020 | Liverpool | H | 1-1 | 1 |
| 21/11/2020 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0-2 | 3 |
| 28/11/2020 | Burnley | H | 5-0 | 3 |
| Total | 18 |
Here’s this season’s results:
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Points |
| 16/08/2025 | Wolves | A | 4-0 | 3 |
| 23/08/2025 | Spurs | H | 0-2 | 0 |
| 31/08/2025 | Brighton | A | 1-2 | 0 |
| 14/09/2025 | Utd | H | 3-0 | 3 |
| 21/09/2025 | Arsenal | A | 1-1 | 1 |
| 27/09/2025 | Burnley | H | 5-1 | 3 |
| 05/10/2025 | Brentford | A | 1-0 | 3 |
| 18/10/2025 | Everton | H | 2-0 | 3 |
| 26/10/2025 | Aston Villa | A | 0-1 | 0 |
| Total | 16 |
Charlton-Arsenal Attendance
Here’s a cutting from a Manchester City match programme in October 1936 which talks of a game between Charlton and Arsenal, played on 17 October 1936. The official attendance that day was 68,160 for the League game. Note how it talks of Arsenal leaving their original base south of the Thames due to issues attracting crowds and then the mention of Charlton’s popularity in south London.
Incidentally, Manchester City’s record League attendance at this time was 79,491 and record attendance was 84,569.
You can find out all about Manchester City during the 1936-37 season by reading the following 2,500 word subscriber article on that season. If you subscribe (see below) I hope you enjoy it. If you don’t subscribe then why not try it for a month (£3 per month or sign up for a year at a discounted £20 per year)?
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Gary James' Football Archive 