CITY 4 MANCHESTER UNITED 0

League Division 1

15th November 1969

attendance 63,013

scorers Young(38), Bell(55 & 86) Sadler(57 og)

Ref G Hill

City Corrigan, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Bowyer, Young – unused sub Towers

United Stepney, Brennan, Dunne, Burns, Ure, Sadler, Sartori, Best, Charlton, Law, Aston – used sub Kidd

 NEIL YOUNG PUTS CITY 1-0 UP

COLIN BELL GRABS THE 2ND

 They called it one of the most one-sided Derby matches ever, a massacre in fact, and the majority of the 63,000 crowd have never forgotten.

The news reports commented on the ‘vast gulf between two ill-matched sides’.

… with the teams due to meet again in a two-legged League Cup Semi-Final just a few weeks later, it was important to gain an edge  to take into those games and it was United  who came desperately close to opening the scoring in the first minute, with Denis law just failing to connect with John Aston’s inviting ball across the box. Had that gone in, who knows which way the game might have swung?
As it was , the Blues heeded the warning and effortlessly slipped up a gear from that moment on, though it wasn’t  until the 38th minute that the hosts finally went in front.

Neil Young had been fairly quiet up to that point, but when he received the ball within site of the goal, he feigned to cross but instead sent in a wicked curling drive that totally fooled Alex Stepney and flew into the back of the net.

With just one goal separating the sides at the break, the reds could have been forgiven for thinking they had a good shot at clawing their way back into the match, but 10 minutes after half-time the peerless Colin Bell doubled City’s advantage to make it 2-0.

United’s talismatic trio of Charlton, Law and Best were powerless to prevent the continued tidal wave of attacks led by man-of-the-match Bell, and when the Blues went 3-0 up, courtesy of an own goal, the Kippax began to enjoy the occasion, safe in the knowledge that there was no way back for Sir Matt’s boys.

Summerbee, Lee, Young and Bell had attacked from the front relentlessly with a mixture of flair and aggression and United had been overwhelmed.

Oakes, Pardoe, Book and of course Doyle, played like men inspired and nobody was about to take their foot off the gas, least of all the majestic Bell who scrambled home a fourth on 89 minutes to send Maine Road into ecstacy and complete United’s nightmarish afternoon. ADAPTED FROM ‘CLASSIC MATCH’ IN THE CITY MAGAZINE JUNE 2008

IT’S 3-0 AS FRANNY LEE PRESSURES SADLER TO PUT THROUGH HIS OWN NET

COLIN BELL GRABS HIS SECOND AND CITY’S FOURTH