Manchester United F.C. 4–3 Manchester City F.C. (2009)

City manager Mark Hughes in his playing days with United.

Heading into the match, United were in second place in the Premier League table after five matches, trailing Chelsea by three points. Manchester City were in fourth place, level on points with Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, but with a game in hand on all but Liverpool. United had won four of their five matches, while City had won all of their first four fixtures; a 4–2 victory over Arsenal had made it their best start to a season since 1961.[18]

In the week building up to the match, which was described by the BBC as "one of the most eagerly awaited derby matches in years",[19] both Ferguson and Hughes, as well as players from both clubs, made comments about their opponents in the press. While admitting the rivalry had "gone up a notch" in the prior months,[20] Ferguson said that matches against Liverpool would always be "the derby game".[21] When asked whether United could ever go into the fixture as underdogs, Ferguson responded, "not in my lifetime".[22] Hughes stated he was "amused" by the irritation City were causing their rivals, and said that Ferguson was "sick and tired" of being asked questions by the media about Manchester City rather than his own side.[23] Hughes, who played for United in two separate spells in the 1980s and 1990s, when they were attempting to overthrow Liverpool, echoed a comment once made by Ferguson by saying "it would be my greatest achievement to knock United off the No.1 spot because it's a huge challenge", and that to do so they would need to beat United.[24]

Ferguson warned Tevez to expect a hostile reception from the United fans if he played,[25] but said it did not bother him whether Tevez was involved, and was pleased that their "star player", Emmanuel Adebayor, was unavailable due to his suspension.[26] Hughes responded by saying United were weaker as they had lost "two significant players" in Ronaldo and Tevez without replacing them.[27] Tevez said he believed the United fans would not boo him as he thought they did not consider him to be a traitor, and predicted City would win if they could capitalise on defensive errors.[28]

United defender Patrice Evra said he believed the fixture was "more special this season", and that it would be an "amazing game",[29] and joked that if United fans booed his friend Tevez, he would join in.[30] Evra acknowledged that City were now an ambitious club, saying that United were determined to stop them becoming "kings" of Manchester.[31] Evra's teammates Nemanja Vidić and Rio Ferdinand both agreed that City had become a more fierce rival.[19] City midfielder Nigel de Jong said that Manchester was "buzzing" ahead of the match as there were now two big clubs in the city,[32] while defender Kolo Touré and midfielder Stephen Ireland were both motivated by the prospect of victory to put City ahead of United in the table.[19]

Manchester United had several players out of contention for the match. Paul Scholes was serving a one-match suspension, and Rio Ferdinand was considered a doubt with a calf injury, although he did eventually recover to start the match. Gabriel Obertan (calf), Rafael (shoulder), Edwin van der Sar (finger) and Owen Hargreaves (knee) were all ruled out through injury.[33] Leading goalscorer Wayne Rooney, who had scored five times, started in a two-man strike partnership with Dimitar Berbatov. Park Ji-sung replaced the suspended Scholes as the only change to the starting line-up from the previous Premier League fixture against Tottenham, when he had been sent-off for two yellow cards.

Manchester City were without top-scorer Emmanuel Adebayor, who had been charged with violent conduct in their last match against Arsenal and was serving a three-match ban that City had given up contesting.[34] He was replaced by Carlos Tevez, who had been an injury doubt but was fit enough to start on his return to his former club, in the only change for City. Robinho (ankle), Michael Johnson (groin), Vincent Kompany (foot), and Roque Santa Cruz (knee) all missed out through injury.[33]

Darren Fletcher scored two of United's goals.

The match kicked off at around 13:30 GMT in front of a crowd of 75,066 at United's Old Trafford stadium.[35] United took the lead inside two minutes; a quick throw-in by Ryan Giggs gave Evra the space to run past Shaun Wright-Phillips and play the ball to Wayne Rooney, who sidestepped Touré and De Jong before sliding the ball past Shay Given. After a quarter of an hour, a long ball by City defender Joleon Lescott looked to be heading straight to Ben Foster, but Carlos Tevez managed to steal the ball away and set up Gareth Barry for the equaliser.[35] The first yellow card was given to Tevez for a "clumsy lunge" on Ferdinand in the 27th minute,[36] and in the 36th minute Tevez was the recipient of a heavy tackle from Anderson, who was booked for the challenge.[36] In the 44th minute, Vidić also picked up a yellow card for a foul on Micah Richards,[36] and a minute later Tevez nearly gave City the lead, hitting the outside of the post following good team play involving Touré and Stephen Ireland.[37] At half-time, as the players were leaving the pitch, Tevez responded to a hostile reception from the Stretford End by applauding "sarcastically".[38] Moments later, a coin aimed for Tevez struck his teammate Javier Garrido on the head.[39]

Manchester United regained the lead four minutes into the second half, when Darren Fletcher outjumped Barry to head home a looping cross from Giggs.[35][37] Park Ji-sung and Giggs himself both had opportunities to give United a 3–1 lead, but neither was able to score. Instead, a City equaliser came quickly in the 52nd minute from Craig Bellamy, who cut inside United defender John O'Shea and struck into the top corner from just outside the penalty area.[35] Bellamy then received a yellow card in the 59th minute for hacking down Anderson.[36] United had further chances to score but Given kept out efforts by Dimitar Berbatov and Giggs again.[35] United finally went ahead for a third time with 10 minutes remaining; Fletcher scored his second goal from a Giggs assist, this time from a free-kick after a foul on Evra.[37] In the last minute of normal time, Martin Petrov intercepted a sloppy pass from Rio Ferdinand near the half-way line, and laid the ball off to Bellamy who quickly raced down the left-hand side and squeezed the ball past an onrushing Foster for his second of the match.[35][37] After originally instructing the fourth official to signal for four minutes of injury time to be played, referee Martin Atkinson allowed the match to continue beyond that initial four minutes due to the lateness of the Bellamy goal; in the sixth minute of injury time, Giggs created his third goal of the match after controlling the ball out of the sky following a clearance, and played the ball to substitute Michael Owen, who found space and lifted the ball over the oncoming Given to make it 4–3.[35]

Having defeated Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur respectively in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, City and United were drawn to play each other in the semi-finals which were to be played over two legs in January 2010,[66] with both games being postponed due to the "Big Freeze".[67] Ahead of the first leg on 19 January, Neville claimed that Tevez was not worth the £25 million it would have cost for United to sign him, agreeing with Ferguson's decision not to go ahead with the transfer.[68] The game, which took place at the City of Manchester Stadium, was won 2–1 by City via two Tevez goals.[69] After the first goal, Tevez celebrated with a hand gesture towards Neville indicating his comments were wrong,[70] while Neville was seen to stick his middle finger up to Tevez.[71] Tevez celebrated his second goal by cupping his ears towards the United directors, as a response to the club not buying him.[72] Tevez later said he had been hurt by the comments of Neville and Ferguson, and used it as motivation to play well in the game.[73] In a radio interview after the match, Tevez called Neville a "moron" and a "boot-licker".[74] Ferguson dismissed the spat, saying that players argue all the time,[75] and City's new manager Roberto Mancini hoped the matter was finished.[76] Both players ultimately avoided punishment from The FA for their actions.[77] Ferguson also refused to warn his players about their behaviour, saying it had never before been an issue in big games.[78][79]

After the game, it was revealed that police had made 18 arrests and confiscated items such as golf balls and darts, which some United fans had attempted to smuggle into the stadium; one City fan had struck United's Patrice Evra with a cigarette lighter.[80][81] A further 15 people were arrested for throwing bottles at police officers after the match,[82] and another 11 were arrested in raids the morning before the second leg.[83] Officials from The FA held meetings with both clubs to attempt to ensure a peaceful second leg at Old Trafford,[84] while an additional 75 police offers were announced to be on duty.[85] The game was compared metaphorically to a powder keg by Sky Sports due to the nature of the previous two games,[86] while The Guardian viewpoint was that it was "the highest risk" game at the stadium that season.[87]

United won the second leg 3–1; having taken a two-goal lead with goals from Scholes and Michael Carrick, Tevez again scored to level the tie at 3–3. The game looked to be heading to extra time before Rooney scored in the 92nd minute to send United into the Final.[88] United faced disciplinary action following an incident where their supporters threw objects at City's Bellamy, including a coin which struck him on the back of the head and multiple bottles.[89] A man from Stockport was charged with the incident, while police confirmed that six men were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and conspiracy to commit violent disorder.[90] The case was thrown out on a technicality in November 2011.[91] The victory was described by The Guardian journalist Kevin McCarra as a victory "greater than the prize" of reaching the final due to the nature of the rivalry.[92]

In April, ahead of the return fixture to be played at Eastlands, police warned both Tevez and Neville not to do anything which could again incite crowd trouble, following their celebrations and comments throughout the season.[93] Ferguson reiterated that he had no regrets about letting Tevez leave the club, despite injury worries for Rooney going into the match.[94] Tevez himself said he still did not understand the intention behind the "Welcome to Manchester" poster which had caused much controversy upon his signing.[95] Mancini said that the game was among the most important in the club's history, as a victory would help them in their attempt to qualify for the Champions League and would demonstrate that City could be title contenders the following season.[96] Fergie acknowledged that the fixture was now "different" as City were now contending for honours and looking to achieve major success.[97] After a strong season, City went into the game still in contention for a UEFA Champions League place for the following season.[98] Writing in The Daily Telegraph, football journalist Henry Winter said the fixture had never been "so riddled with intrigue and significance".[98] City were angered when referee Martin Atkinson, originally designated a fixture between Stoke City and Bolton Wanderers, was selected to replace Steve Bennett the day before the game.[99] The match finished 1–0 with a 93rd minute Paul Scholes goal giving United a third injury-time winner against City in the season.[100][101]