Zab: We blue ’em away in big semi
PABLO ZABALETA looks back on the FA Cup semi-final in 2011 as the moment Manchester started to turn blue.
The first meeting between City and United at Wembley was won by Yaya Toure’s strike.
And the club that had lived in the shadow of their rivals for so long emerged into the sunshine.
Toure found the back of the net again the following month as City beat Stoke to lift their first major trophy in 35 years.
And a decade on they are closing in on a fifth Premier League title.
For Zabaleta, 36, the Argentine who became an Etihad cult hero after joining City in 2008, knocking United out was a watershed moment.
He said: “All we got when we played United was disappointment.
“There was a 4-3, when Michael Owen scored the winner in injury time. A last-minute goal by Paul Scholes at the Etihad and a defeat in the semi-final of the League Cup.
“That wasn’t by accident. It was because Sir Alex Ferguson had built a winning mentality.
“When we played them at Wembley, it was the day when we told United that we could beat them, that we could beat any team and that now we would fight for trophies.
“It was a huge step forward to beat United and win the FA Cup.
“I think it created the mentality that has made City the best team in England over the last 10 years.”
Pep Guardiola’s side go into today’s derby 14 points clear of their rivals and Zabaleta, who retired last summer after three years with West Ham, added: “When I first came to Manchester, it was unthinkable City would be better than United.”