Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 3–4 Manchester City F.C. (2004)

In the Fourth Round of the 2003–04 FA Cup, the tie between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City went to a replay – played at White Hart Lane, London, on the evening of 4 February 2004 – after the original match 11 days earlier finished in a 1–1 draw.

Tottenham Hotspur v
Manchester City (2004)
Event2003–04 FA Cup Fourth round replay
Tottenham Hotspur Manchester City
3 4
Date4 February 2004 (2004-02-04)
VenueWhite Hart Lane, London
RefereeRob Styles (Hampshire)
Attendance30,400
WeatherDry

Spurs took a convincing 3–0 lead into the half-time interval after goals from Ledley King, Robbie Keane and a Christian Ziege free kick. Having already seen their star striker, Nicolas Anelka, limp off with an injury in the 27th minute of the game, the situation was made even worse for City just before the half-time interval when key central midfielder Joey Barton was dismissed by the referee for dissent as both teams and the match officials were leaving the pitch at the end of the first half. However, after the break, goals from Sylvain Distin, Paul Bosvelt, Shaun Wright-Phillips plus an injury-time strike from Jon Macken sealed a victory described by one journalistic source as "as great a comeback as English football has ever known".[1]

In footballing circles, it is frequently referred to as one of greatest comebacks of FA Cup history.[2][3][4]

Background

The match was played between two of English football's more notable clubs, at a time when both were experiencing lengthy periods of relative mediocrity.[5][6] Neither team had finished higher than seventh in the Premier League since its creation more than a decade earlier.[7][8] Manchester City had won promotion back to the Premier League just two seasons earlier,[9]having spent just one of the previous seven seasons in the Premier League, and spending one season in Division Two.[10] Furthermore, neither team had reached the final of the FA Cup since Spurs won the competition in 1991, although Spurs had won the Football League Cup five seasons earlier. City's last major trophy was the League Cup in 1976.

The match was picked for live broadcast on Match of the Day but before the match the tie-up between two struggling sides was ultimately viewed to be of secondary importance compared to then-Conference side Scarborough's draw against Chelsea as well as another top-table clash between Liverpool and Newcastle United.[11] It was instead broadcast live on Sky Sports.

Being top division teams, both had entered the competition in the Third Round Proper, played in the previous month. Tottenham had advanced with an easy 3–0 victory over Crystal Palace[12] while City had laboured to beat Leicester City, having been held to a replay after a 2–2 draw at home.[13]

Being one of only three replays in the Fourth Round, it was already known that the winner of the match between the two teams would face Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Fifth Round.[14]

Match

Summary
Jon Macken scored the winning goal for Manchester City.

Tottenham took the lead early in the match, their shot from outside the penalty area giving them a one-goal advantage after two minutes.[14] However, their strong early position was knocked six minutes later when striker Hélder Postiga left the field with an injury, to be replaced by Gus Poyet.[1][14]

In the 19th minute, Stephen Carr's long ball over the Manchester City defence was put past City goalkeeper Árni Arason by Robbie Keane, increasing Spurs' advantage to two goals.[14] Less than ten minutes later, City themselves saw a striker substituted through injury when Nicolas Anelka incurred a hamstring strain in the 27th minute. His replacement was Jon Macken,[1][14] who had been blamed for missing an open goal at the end of the previous match which had necessitated the replay be played in the first place.[2] Spurs scored their final goal just before half-time as Christian Ziege took a free-kick caused by a Joey Barton foul on Michael Brown, in the process receiving a yellow card which would become far more relevant very shortly afterwards.[14]

Barton's yellow card would come back to bite him on the stroke of half-time when, in a move which was indicative of the start of a career which would ultimately be characterised by controversy,[15] he was reported to have remonstrated with referee Rob Styles as both teams made their way to the dressing rooms and promptly received a yellow card for dissent. His second yellow card resulted in his explusion from the match and left his team with only ten men for the second 45-minute interval.[2][14]

After the break, City appeared resurgent and scored within three minutes of the restart when defender Sylvain Distin headed in from a set piece.[14] Reserve goalkeeper Arason — who was playing his first game in English football and who manager Kevin Keegan had never even witnessed in full match conditions before — then drew plaudits for a double save following another Ziege free kick.[2] City reduced the lead to just one goal when Paul Bosvelt's half-volley took a deflection off Anthony Gardner in the 62nd minute.[1]

Manchester City eventually drew level in the 79th minute when Shaun Wright-Phillips avoided an offside trap to lob Spurs goalkeeper Kasey Keller,[14] and finally took the lead in the 90th minute as another cross from Michael Tarnat found Jon Macken, who prevented the need for extra time or penalties.[14][2]

Details
Tottenham Hotspur3–4Manchester City
 Report
Attendance: 30,400
Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester City
GK13 Kasey Keller
RB2 Stephen Carr
CB26 Ledley King
CB30 Anthony Gardner
LB23 Christian Ziege 60'
RM29 Simon Davies
CM36 Dean Richards (c)
CM6 Michael Brown
LM11 Stéphane Dalmat
CF18 Robbie Keane
CF8 Hélder Postiga 9'
Substitutes:
GK24 Rob Burch
DF34 Stephen Kelly
MF14 Gus Poyet 9'
MF28 Mark Yeates
MF32 Johnnie Jackson 60'
Manager:
David Pleat
GK25 Árni Arason
RB17 Sun Jihai 85'
CB22 Richard Dunne
CB5 Sylvain Distin (c)
LB18 Michael Tarnat
RM29 Shaun Wright-Phillips
CM24 Joey Barton 42'  45'
CM26 Paul Bosvelt 78' 80'
LM28 Trevor Sinclair 80'
CF39 Nicolas Anelka 27'
CF8 Robbie Fowler
Substitutes:
GK32 Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard
DF41 Stephen Jordan
MF10 Antoine Sibierski 80'
MF20 Steve McManaman 80'
FW11 Jon Macken 27'
Manager:
Kevin Keegan

Aftermath

City's victory was immediately heralded as a momentous event, with Kevin Keegan and commentator Alan Hansen both describing it as the greatest cup match they had ever witnessed.[2] The following day, Guardian journalist Kevin McCarra labelled it "as great a comeback as English football has ever known"[1] and the same publication was inspired to compare the match to previous challengers for the same mantle.[16] Since then, it has regularly served as a benchmark for comparison when English teams have produced memorable cup turnarounds, and has featured on numerous media attempts to list the best cup matches in history.[3][17][18][19]

Ultimately, Manchester City's heroics were in vain as they went on to lose their Fifth Round tie against bitter rivals Manchester United 4–2 in a tempestuous affair that saw Gary Neville sent-off for his part in a large melee in the 38th minute.[20] United would go on to win the competition, defeating Millwall 3–0 in the final to claim their 11th FA Cup title.[21]

For Spurs, losing the match did not seem to cause any lasting effects on their season, with the club continuing to record a similar number of wins and losses in their following matches as they had in the previous couple of months.[22] For City, who had been on a winless run in the league stretching back to the start of November, the same originally appeared true as they picked up only one point from their next two matches[23] before finally capping the winless run at 14 matches with an away victory over Bolton Wanderers on 21 February.[24] This was followed-up with a 4–1 derby victory at Maine Road two matches later.[25] Spurs, who had been four points ahead of City at the time of the FA Cup match, finished the season exactly the same distance ahead, with the teams finishing in 14th and 16th place respectively.[26] Both teams had already been eliminated from all other competitions,[27] with Spurs themselves having eliminated City from the League Cup.[28]

References
  1. "City come back from the dead". The Guardian. 5 February 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  2. "The greatest comeback ever?". BBC Sport. 5 February 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  3. "The ten best FA Cup comebacks (number 6)". The Independent. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  4. "The greatest games of the decade". ESPN soccernet. 15 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  5. "City tumble through trapdoor". The Guardian. 8 May 2001. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  6. "Santini era ends at Spurs after only five months". The Guardian. 6 November 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  7. "Manchester City Season History". Premier League. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  8. "Tottenham Hotspur Season History". Premier League. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  9. "Man City seal promotion". BBC Sport. 6 April 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  10. "Shoot-out success for City". BBC Sport. 30 May 1999. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  11. "Minnows seeking Cup glory". BBC Sport. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  12. "FA CUP ARCHIVE: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 3-0 CRYSTAL PALACE". The FA. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  13. "Manchester City v Leicester Head to head". BBC Sport. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  14. "Tottenham 3 - 4 City". BBC Sport. 4 February 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  15. "The life and crimes of Joey Barton - but is he football's biggest bad boy?". Eurosport. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  16. "Great FA Cup comebacks of our time". The Guardian. 5 February 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  17. "Video: The Top 10 Biggest & Best Comebacks Ever". Goal.com. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  18. "The Top 10 comebacks of all-time". mirrorfootball.co.uk. Trinity Mirror. 1 April 2010. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  19. "The Top 10 comebacks of all-time video special". mirrorfootball.co.uk. Trinity Mirror. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  20. "Man Utd 4–2 Man City". BBC Sport. 14 February 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  21. "Man Utd win FA Cup". BBC Sport. 22 May 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  22. "England 2003/04". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  23. "Owen deepens City's misery". The Guardian. 12 February 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  24. "Keegan thanks Fowler". BBC Sport. 21 February 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  25. "Man City 4–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. 14 March 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  26. "Premier League table 2003–04". premierleague.com. Premier League. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  27. "Spurs suffer penalty agony". BBC Sport. 17 December 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  28. "Postiga sends Spurs through". BBC Sport. 3 December 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
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