FA CUP FOURTH ROUND, JANUARY 2011
NOTTS COUNTY 1 MAN CITY 1
■ THE first trophy of Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi era was 10 minutes away from not happening at all. In the fourth round of the FA Cup, in 2011, we had been drawn away to Notts County. They were in League One and managed by Paul Ince.
We had made heavy investment in our team that season and Roberto Mancini picked a strong side. It was one with an English core as Joe Hart was in goal, James Milner, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry and I started, as did Patrick Vieira. It wasn’t that we played badly but we couldn’t find a way through in the first 45 minutes and then, early in the second half, we went behind to a goal from Neal Bishop. There were only 30 minutes left when he scored and, believe me, panic set in. Of course, you try to stay cool, calm and collected but at the back of your mind you are thinking: ‘Please, no. Not here, not now.’ Mancini lost his marbles in anger the closer it got to full time and my abiding memory is of him screaming: ‘Richards! Richards! ******* attack! Attack!’ as we tried to score. Eventually, we found a way through and I provided the cross for Edin Dzeko to equalise late in the day. It was his first goal in English football. There was no such problem in the replay, as we won 5-0. But the nerves that spread as we contemplated the idea of going out were awful. That’s why the FA Cup is so good. It doesn’t matter how powerful you think your team are or what form you are in — the underdogs always have a chance.