Manchester City's 5️⃣ greatest second half comebacks | OneFootball

Whether it be in Premier League title races, play-off finals or the Champions League, coming back to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat is in Manchester City’s DNA.

Which is why they are the perfect club to join forces with Official Water Technology Partner Xylem for the season-long All To Play For campaign.

All To Play For aims to highlight the global water challenges impacting us all, inspiring fans to take small actions to make a big difference and become ‘Water Champions’.

The year 2023 marks ‘half time’ on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 2030 commitments. All To Play For launches with a compelling half-time team talk from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, urging football fans around the world to come together for a big push in the second half, and make every action on water count.

“Seven years ago, the world set a goal to tackle our global water challenges by 2030,” says Guardiola.

“We are already halfway, and we are not where we need to be. So, we all need to do more.”

To inspire you, we’re looking back at Manchester City’s five greatest second half comebacks…

5. Bayern Munich 2-3 Manchester City – 2013

The final fixture of the 2013 Champions League group stage saw Manuel Pellegrini’s City travel to face Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The evening got off to a bad start for the visitors, with Thomas Müller and Mario Götze firing Bayern into a 2-0 lead after just 12 minutes.

But David Silva soon pulled one back for City, before Aleksandar Kolarov equalised from the penalty spot and James Milner completed a stunning comeback to end Bayern’s record run of 10 consecutive Champions League victories.

Did you know? Three quarters (73%) of Manchester City fans believe their actions can have an impact on water in their community.

4. Tottenham 3-4 Manchester City – 2004

Having drawn 1-1 in the first meeting between the two sides, City travelled to White Hart Lane in February 2004 for a replay of their FA Cup fourth round tie.

But after falling behind to an early Ledley King goal, Kevin Keegan’s side went in at half-time 3-0 down and looked to be heading out of the cup. To make matters worse, Joey Barton was sent off for dissent during the half-time interval.

However, in what is remembered as one of the all-time great FA Cup comebacks, City’s 10-men rallied in the second half and came roaring back with goals from Sylvain Distin, Paul Bosvelt and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

And just when it looked like the tie would go to extra-time, Jon Macken popped up to head home an extraordinary against-all-odds winning goal, sparking delirium in the away end and sending City through to victory.

Did you know? Water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, but it’s a limited resource and only 3% is fresh, drinkable water.

3. Manchester City 2-2 Gillingham (3-1 pens) – 1999

After their relegation to Division Two the year before, City travelled to Wembley in May 1999 hoping to return to the second tier at the first time of asking when they took on Gillingham in the play-off final. But the match didn’t go to plan and towards the end of a nervy encounter, Carl Asaba gave Gillingham a shock lead, before Robert Taylor made it 2-0 soon after.

Kevin Horlock pulled a 90th-minute goal back for City but it appeared to be too little, too late, until the fourth official added on five minutes of injury time, and the travelling Blues fans dared to dream.

Their faith was rewarded when Paul Dickov smashed in a dramatic stoppage time equaliser, which he celebrated with an iconic knee slide to take the final to extra-time and then penalties.

It was in the shoot-out where Nicky Weaver made himself a City legend, saving a penalty from Guy Butters to send City back to Division One.

Did you know? An estimated 3 billion people lack access to safe drinking water globally – more than a third of the world’s total population.

2. Manchester City 3-2 Aston Villa – 2022

City have been no strangers to final day drama in recent years, and they should have known that the grand finale to the 2021/22 season was not going to be a straightforward affair.

Guardiola’s side hosted Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium knowing that one more victory would seal the Premier League title, while fellow challengers Liverpool took on Wolves at Anfield.

City started tentatively and were punished when Matty Cash headed Villa into a surprise lead just before half time. Then, in the second half, things went from bad to worse when Philippe Coutinho made it 2-0, leaving City’s title dream in tatters.

But cometh the hour, cometh İlkay Gündoğan, with the German midfielder heading in at the back post to keep the dream alive.

Two minutes later, Rodri fired a brilliant effort into the bottom corner to equalise, before Kevin De Bruyne’s teasing cross was met by Gündoğan at the back post to complete an astonishing five-minute comeback from 2-0 to 3-2 up, and the title was City’s.

Did you know? Water consumption has outpaced population growth two-fold, leading to much of the Earth’s freshwater becoming increasingly polluted and creating water shortages.

1. Manchester City 3-2 QPR – 2012

The 2011/12 season was an amazing comeback in itself for City.

The club’s dream of a first Premier League title appeared to have ended with a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal in the April, and rivals Manchester United entered the final five matches of the season with a healthy eight-point lead at the top of the table.

But Roberto Mancini’s side fought until the end, with four consecutive victories (including a 1-0 defeat of United) seeing them come roaring back and entering the final day just needing to beat relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers and the title would be theirs.

However, there was to be a dramatic twist when QPR came from 1-0 down at half-time to lead 2-1 despite having a man sent off, and that was how it stayed until the clock reached 90 minutes.

It suddenly looked like United – who were winning at Sunderland – would be crowned champions unexpectedly, only for Edin Džeko to hand City a lifeline with an equaliser in the 92nd minute.

And then, as the Etihad Stadium held its breath, the ball landed at Sergio Agüero’s feet with 93 minutes and 20 seconds on the clock, and the rest is history.

It is the only time the Premier League title has ever been clinched in stoppage time on the final day of the season, and it will forever be remembered as one of English football’s most iconic finales.

In the words of commentator Martin Tyler: “I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.”

Football fans worldwide can find out more, and discover simple yet impactful actions to become more water responsible and be a ‘Water Champion’, at alltoplayfor.com.