Manchester United’s famous 4-3 win over Man City at Old Trafford in September 2009 will always be remembered for Michael Owen’s last-gasp winner – but it was Gary Neville who Mark Hughes took exception to.
Ask any Manchester United fan to name their favourite derby memory from the last 20 years and the chances are the name ‘Michael’ and ‘Owen’ will feature in one of the most popular answers.
It was on September 20, 2009, when the former England international latched onto a perfectly weighted pass by Ryan Giggs and prodded the ball past former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given. As the ball connected with the netting of the Stretford End goal, Old Trafford erupted.
Owen, who had joined the club a little over two months earlier, went sprinting in the direction of the corner connecting the Stretford End with what is now known as the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. With both arms aloft, he was soon pounced upon by his teammates.
With one prod of the ball, he had become the most idolised man in the red half of Manchester. Those donning blue in the opposite corner of the stadium were crestfallen, having believed the 90th-minute strike from Craig Bellamy they had celebrated six minutes earlier had earned them a point.
The contest had ebbed and flowed, with City coming from behind on three separate occasions. They had shown terrific grit and determination and it looked as though they were going to head back to the Etihad Stadium with a point in the bag.
But Giggs’ exquisite pass found Owen in space and the rest, as they say, is history. The goal will go down in United folklore.
But as United’s supporters, just as any football supporter should do when witnessing their team score a last-gasp winner against their closest rivals, lost control of their senses in the stands, Ferguson bounced up and down his technical area and Owen was mobbed by his teammates, former City boss Mark Hughes was furious on the touchline.
The City chief, who was in charge between June 2008 and December 2009, was unhappy with the amount of injury time that had been played. Four additional minutes were displayed on fourth official Alan Wiley’s board, but 96 minutes were on the clock when Owen scored the winner.
Shoving his watch into the face of linesman Philip Sharp, who had positioned himself near the away dugout at the juncture of Owen scoring, Hughes was furious. He thought Bellamy’s goal just a few minutes earlier had earned his team a point, maintaining their unbeaten start to the 2009/10 Premier League season.
To rub salt in Hughes’ wounds, the now-Carlisle United boss also had to deal with a buoyant Gary Neville. As a boyhood United fan, it was naturally impossible for him to keep his emotions in check.
Neville had been named on the bench by Ferguson for the visit of City. After the Scot had already turned to Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick and Owen earlier in the second half, his chances of playing his part were dead in the water, meaning all he could do was watch from the sidelines.
After Owen’s shot nestled in the back of the net, Neville, raising both arms aloft himself, went running down the touchline – but not in the direction of the Stretford End tunnel. Instead, he headed in the direction of where City’s shell-shocked supporters were housed.
His sprint past Hughes and his celebration did not go unnoticed by the Welshman, who scored four goals in United colours against City in his playing career.
“I saw Gary Neville running off like a lunatic,” said Hughes. “What I saw reminded me of Sir Alex and Brian Kidd.
“It shows what it meant to them. It shows we can compete. We came back three times and showed great quality and character as a team.”
Hughes also used his post-match interview to criticise referee Martin Atkinson for allowing more minutes to be played than he originally signalled for. Added time, of course, always carries the caveat of being a minimum.
Hughes continued: “He said he [Atkinson] had added a minute-plus because of our goal celebration but they got it wrong. We feel robbed… Historically it has happened before.
“I was in teams here who had that benefit and I never thought it was an issue because I actually thought we had a bad time by referees. Since I left I have probably changed my view.”
Hughes’ frustration with Neville’s celebration, however, was not the last word on the former United captain’s reaction to Owen’s winner. A few days after the derby, which secured United their fifth win in their opening six league games of the campaign, the Football Association [FA] warned Neville about his actions.
A statement released by the FA said: “Gary Neville has been reminded of his responsibilities following his actions after Manchester United’s final goal deep into injury time.”
The former right-back had previously been fined in 2006 for taunting Liverpool fans after a United goal at Old Trafford.
On that occasion, he had been fined £5,000 for running to the Liverpool fans and holding the United badge on his shirt after Rio Ferdinand had scored a 90th-minute winner.
With United blood running through his veins, Neville is unlikely to have cared too much about the ticking off he got from the FA after Owen’s winner against City. It will always rank as one of the most treasured derby day winners in United’s collection.
Everyone invested in football, whether it be players, managers, supporters or whoever else, live for moments like the one Owen produced 16 years ago and it will never be forgotten in the red half of Manchester.
For Hughes, though, it probably gave him several sleepless nights and left him seeing Neville’s sprint past him in his head over and over again.