SWINDON TOWN 1 CITY 3
FA Premiership
1st September 1993
Attendance 16,067
scorers
City Vonk(74), Quinn(79), Mike(89)
Swindon Summerbee(60)
Ref K Cooper
City Coton, Fiitcroft, D Brightwell, McMahon, Curle, Vonk, White, Sheron, Quinn, Groenendijk, Holden – subs Simpson(64), Mike(85), Dibble(unused)
Swindon Digby, Nijholt, Whitbread, Taylor, Horlock, Summerbee, MacLaren, Moncur, Hazard, Ling, Mutch – subs Maskell(75), Fjortoft(70), Hammond(unused)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
JOHN DAVIES WRITING IN THE GUARDIAN 2ND SEPTEMBER 1993
Manchester City’s new manager Brian Horton must have feared the worst when his team went a goal down after 60 minutes of his first game in charge against a gritty Swindon side already battling for Premiership survival. But, after Michel Vonk had struck the equaliser, Niall Quinn, said to be the loudest dissenter in the Maine Road dressing room after last week’s managerial upheaval, turned the tide in City’s favour.
In the final seconds the substitute Mike secured City’s first win of the season with a third goal for the visitors.
Earlier it had been Swindon who looked to be heading for their first win when Summerbee, son of City’s Mike, scored with a free kick on the hour. But 13 minutes later City equalised when Holden’s corner was stabbed in during a goalmouth scrimmage. Then came the dramatic last few minutes with Quinn blasting in his shot and then Mike ramming home City’s third.
Despite their backroom squabbling over the sacking of Peter Reid, City were the first to settle down and they launched a sweet passing move that ended with Sheron testing the Swindon goalkeeper Digby with a sharp volley.
But as Swindon gradually rediscovered the crisp passing that Glenn Hoddle had drilled into them in the past two years, it was City’s turn to come under the cosh, with Mutch denied twice by Coton.
Manchester City were let off the hook on the half-hour when they conceded a penalty after Curle had hooked Summerbee to the ground. Moncur, however, drove his spot-kick a little too straight and Coton and had to dive only slightly to his left to save.
They could not escape on the hour, however, when Summerbee’s free kick from the edge of the box took a sharp deflection off City’s defensive wall before beating Coton. It was a mite fortunate but well-deserved.