For Yaya Toure, the brutal “slap in the face” Manchester City gave their local rivals marked a power shift in English football.
City's 6-1 mauling of Manchester United at Old Trafford in October 2011, en route to winning their first Premier League title, proved the turning point for the Blues. Since then, City have become the dominant football force in Manchester and in English football, with six titles in 12 years, including five of the last six.
Although City had beaten United 1-0 at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals six months earlier, Toure believes the emphatic Old Trafford win proved they had become a major force.
“I think what hurt United the most – the club, their fans – was the 6-1 win,” said former City midfielder Toure, who has a framed team-sheet from that day hanging at his home.
“After the FA Cup semi-final, we believed we could beat them, even at Old Trafford, with Ferguson. Ferguson is one of the great managers. Old Trafford is the most emblematic stadium around the world. Most of their players were there.
“It was like a slap in the face of United fans, even players, in front of Ferguson. I remember watching highlights of the game and you could see the camera on Ferguson’s face and it was red.
“He didn’t say anything. You could see it in his eyes. It was incredible. We played much better than we did in the FA Cup semi-final. We won that game 1-0, but we got dominated in the first half. The one chance we got we scored and then they got a red card and we took advantage.
“But at Old Trafford, the 6-1 was different. It was in their stadium, against the best manager in the world, who had made their team great and we battered them 6-1. What’s better than that?”
City had served notice of their emergence in April 2011, beating United to reach the FA Cup final, Toure's goal just after half-time sealing the seismic win over their local rivals. The Blues would go on to beat Stoke by the same scoreline in the final, with Toure again the goalscorer, to end the club's agonising 35-year wait to lift a trophy.
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Toure reckons that semi-final win over United was the catalyst for City to finally emerge from years of dormancy and out of the shadow of their more illustrious rivals. “I think we celebrated more then, than when we won the final!” recalled Toure, now an academy coach at Tottenham.
“Even on the train back, we were still celebrating. It was a mark of the change that was happening. There was a big celebration – not only the players. The executives were on the train with us, they came into the dressing room to share our happiness.
“They were feeling like ‘This is it now, change is coming now’. The fans realised it as well. Everyone around the city started to realise it. I remember when I went to the shops or supermarkets and even United fans would say: ‘Oh Yaya, you guys, jeez’. People started to understand things were changing.
“After that game all those things changed. We started to get more respect. People started to believe in City. It was huge.”
The previous season, City had shown they were serious about eclipsing United, by taking Carlos Tevez from them, a move that showed the Blues were able to compete for the very best players. City taunted United with the infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' posters announcing Tevez's defection across the city, a provocative gesture that enraged Ferguson.
“Tevez was one of the biggest players and to take him from a big rival and bring him to you, you can maybe understand why Ferguson was frustrated and p*****,” said Toure.
“When a manager starts to talk about someone or other clubs, it means he’s scared. It means he feels something going on there that is important. You don’t talk about someone like that if you don’t fear them.
“The players City brought in had that winning mentality and they have that now. But at the beginning it was very tough. It’s only now, as I look back, that I realise how tough.”
