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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates after Michael Owen scores the winning goal against Manchester City. Old Trafford, September 2009.

Where are they now? The XIs from Man Utd 4-3 Man City in 2009

Football derbies are one of the most highly-anticipated events on the sporting calendar – and Manchester United’s 4-3 win over Manchester City in September 2009 was an absolute classic. 

The seven-goal thriller culminated in Michael Owen’s last-gasp winner as United asserted their authority over their noisy neighbours – at least for the time being.

We’ve taken a look back at both sides from that day, including some Premier League legends and other cult heroes.

Manchester United – Ben Foster

Foster was unable to displace Edwin van der Sar as Manchester United’s No.1, and he was eventually sold to Birmingham City in 2010.

He helped the Midlanders win the League Cup but couldn’t prevent their relegation to the Championship.

The goalkeeper then spent seven years West Brom before moving on to Watford in 2018.

John O’Shea

A cult hero at United, O’Shea left to join Sunderland in 2011 only to suffer back-to-back relegations with the Black Cats.

The 40-year-old saw out his playing career at Reading but retired in 2019 and then spent two years as part of the Championship outfit’s coaching staff.

READ: A tribute to John O’Shea, Manchester United’s great court jester

Rio Ferdinand

We spoke to Manchester City left-back Michael Ball, who said City targeted Rio Ferdinand that afternoon: “Stephen Ireland had that way that he could always read the passes from Rio Ferdinand; he was quick across the floor, he could read and intercept, and that’s where we kept catching them off-guard a little bit.”

The England international enduring a difficult game, but more often than not he still had the last laugh against City, and he can now be found as a pundit on BT Sport after hanging up his boots following an unsuccessful spell at QPR.

READ: Michael Ball: Man City targeted Rio Ferdinand to win derby in 2008

Nemanja Vidic

Along with Ferdinand, Vidic established himself as one of the best defenders in the world in his peak at United, but he also struggled after leaving Old Trafford.

The Serbian spent 18 months with Inter Milan before his contract was ended by mutual consent, and he subsequently announced his retirement. We still wouldn’t mess with him.

Patrice Evra

Unlike Ferdinand and Vidic, Evra had success post-United, winning two Serie A titles with Juventus and reaching the Champions League final in 2015.

However, he was later released by Marseille for kicking a fan and had a forgettable three months at West Ham. These days he’s a hugely entertaining pundit.

Park Ji-sung (Antonio Valencia, 62′)

Park is another former United player who moved to QPR, while he also had a loan spell back at PSV before retiring in 2014.

“I’m leaving with no regrets, I enjoyed playing football,” Park said upon his move to QPR. “I have achieved more than I thought I would. I’m truly grateful for all the support I have received and I will live the rest of my life thinking how I can pay it back.”

After retiring, he studied management, law and humanities of sport at De Montfort University in Leicester – and he even turned out for their football team.

In 2021, Park announced his resignation as United’s ambassador and became an advisor at a K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. 

Valencia, meanwhile, spent 10 years at United, working his way up to captain the side. He then had brief spells in Mexico and his native Ecuador before hanging up his boots in 2021.

READ: A tribute to Park Ji-sung, the key cog & battery in Man Utd’s winning machine

Darren Fletcher

Fletcher scored twice on that famous afternoon, but his later career at United was ruined after being diagnosed with chronic bowel disease ulcerative colitis in 2011.

The former Scotland international eventually recovered and rebuilt his career at West Brom before spending two years at Stoke City.

After leaving the Potters, he returned to United as a first-team coach and has since been appointed their technical director.

Anderson (Michael Carrick, 90+3′)

Anderson was once regarded as one of the best young talents in world football, but he never reached his full potential and few supporters were disappointed to see the midfielder leave.

He returned to Brazil with Internacional in 2015 but retired in 2019 after a brief spell at Adana Demirspor in Turkey. Remarkably, he’s only 33.

His replacement that day, Carrick, spent the rest of his career at United, winning a plethora of honours, and he’s now part of the coaching staff at Old Trafford.

Ryan Giggs

The legendary midfielder retired in 2014 after winning 13 league titles, two Champions League titles and four FA Cups.

After hanging up his boots, Giggs joined the coaching staff at United under Louis Van Gaal but left the club when Jose Mourinho was appointed as manager.

The 47-year-old began his own managerial career with the Welsh national team in 2018 and is also co-owner at Salford City.

Dimitar Berbatov (Michael Owen, 78)

Robin van Persie’s arrival at Old Trafford saw Berbatov shown the door as he signed for Fulham in 2012.

The Bulgarian later had spells with Monaco, PAOK and Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters before announcing his retirement in 2019.

Substitute Owen scored the famous injury-time winner and later spent a year at Stoke City before retiring.

READ: Michael Owen at Man Utd: Worth it just for *that* derby winner

Wayne Rooney

Rooney became United’s all time top goalscorer in 2017 but lost his place in the team and opted to make a fairytale return to Everton.

His second spell on Merseyside was rather underwhelming and he left for D.C United 12 months later. The former United captain returned to England with Championship side Derby County in 2020 and has since become their manager.

Manchester City – Shay Given

Joe Hart eventually replaced Given as City’s No.1, and so the Irish goalkeeper signed for Aston Villa, spending four years at Villa Park.

The goalkeeper joined Stoke in 2015 but lost his place in the side and was released at the end of the 2016-17 season before retiring in 2018. He moved into coaching and had a brief spell working alongside Rooney at Derby County before leaving the role in July 2021.

Micah Richards

Richards was meant to become a City legend and England regular but his career was plagued by injuries, and he was released by the club in 2015 before making just 26 appearances in three years at Aston Villa.

“First of all I’d like to apologise to the Villa fans, because they didn’t get to see the best me,” Richards said after announcing his retirement in 2019 at the age of 31.

“I don’t want to blame anyone for the reasons why my knee didn’t hold up, but literally after only a couple of sessions at Villa my knee just couldn’t cope with it.”

He’s now working as a TV pundit and has formed a brilliant bromance with former United captain Roy Keane on Sky Sports.

Kolo Toure

After ending his career with Celtic, winning a domestic treble with the Scottish outfit, Toure retired in 2017 and became a member of Brendan Rodgers’ coaching staff, following the former Liverpool boss to Leicester City.

Joleon Lescott

Lescott helped City win the league in 2012 but eventually fell out of favour and was released by the club in 2014.

The defender had spells at West Brom, Aston Villa, AEK Athens and Sunderland before hanging up his boots in 2017.

After retiring, Lescott worked for City by looking after their players who are out on loan but left the role in 2021 to join Lee Carsley‘s coaching team with the England Under-21s.

Wayne Bridge

After City signed Aleksander Kolarov and Gael Clichy, Bridge struggled for game time and was sent out on loan three times.

He signed a one-year contract at Reading in 2013 but retired at the end of the season after only making 12 appearances.

Away from football, the 41-year-old was a contestant on ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ in 2016.

READ: Wayne Bridge: I didn’t see my quality & thought Man City paid too much for me

Gareth Barry

Barry played a key role in City’s title win in 2012 before joining Everton a year later. He then went on to become the Premier League’s all time leading appearance maker while at West Brom.

The midfielder finally decided to hang up his boots at the age of 39 in August 2020.

Nigel De Jong (Martin Petrov, 83′)

De Jong has travelled the globe since leaving City with spells at AC Milan, LA Galaxy, Galatasaray and Mainz. He has spent the last three years in Qatar with Al Ahli Doha and Al-Shahania but is now a free agent.

Petrov had spells at Bolton, Espantol and CSKA Sofia before retiring in 2014. He later returned to City to score in Vincent Kompany’s testimonial.

Shaun Wright-Phillips

After being released by QPR in 2015, Wright-Phillips made the move to America and signed for New York Red Bulls before joining Phoenix Rising FC in 2017.

The winger decided to call time on his career in August 2019 at the age of 37. His son, D’Margio, is now playing for Stoke City Under-23s, which makes us feel incredibly old.

Stephen Ireland

Ireland was another highly-rated player from City’s academy, but he fell out of favour under Roberto Mancini despite initially impressing amid their new-found wealth.

The midfielder has tried to rebuild his career at Aston Villa and Stoke City, but he has been blighted by injury problems. After two months at Bolton in 2018, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent, and he hasn’t played football since

Craig Bellamy

Bellamy’s two goals in the derby were overshadowed by Owen’s late winner, and the forward’s days at City were numbered after Hughes was sacked later that season.

The Welshman was another player to fall foul of Mancini and spent a season on loan at Cardiff City before making a surprise return to Liverpool in 2011. He completed a free transfer back to Cardiff in 2012 before retiring in 2014.

Bellamy left his role as Cardiff’s Under-18s coach in 2019 when allegations of bullying were made against him, but he then reunited with Vincent Kompany to became a coach at Anderlecht. The 42-year-old stepped down from the role in September 2021 citing mental health issues

Carlos Tevez

The derby was Tevez’s first game against his former club after he became public enemy No.1 in the red half of Manchester.

His eventful four years at the Etihad came to an end in 2013, and he spent spells with Juventus and Boca Juniors before 18 months with Shanghai Shenhua in China, where he was reportedly the highest paid footballer in the world.

The 37-year-old returned to Boca Juniors for a third spell at the club in 2018 but became a free agent at the end of 2020-21.


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