7th May 2000
City travelled to Ewood Park on the final day if the Championship season just needing to match Ipswich’s score to claim the second automatic promotion place.
City had been running for promotion all season but Ipswich had been in fine form keeping the pace with the blues. With nothing between them, it came down to the last game of the season and while City had a difficult game at Blackburn, Ipswich had a relatively easy game at home to Walsall.
City like to do things the hard way; the previous season the blues had to Wembley for a play-off final against Gillingham and found themselves 2-0 down with just a few minutes of normal time remaining. They somehow found it in themselves to grab a dramatic last minute equaliser before winning the game 4-1 on penalties.
This game surely couldn’t be as dramatic as the Gillingham game but this is City and the thousands of blues fans who travelled to Lancashire should have known better than to expect their team to give them an easy ride. It was Blackburn who took the lead. Rovers had already hit the bar twice before Matt Jansen opened the scoring with a left foot finish from Ashley Ward’s flick on. The same two were each later to hit the woodwork again as City took a battering. The blues were grateful for the half time whistle, thanking their lucky stars that they didn’t go to the dressing room more than just a goal down. The blues had forty five minutes to rescue their season.
Whatever Joe Royle said to the team at half-time certainly worked but the equaliser came from absolutely nothing. Out on the left, Mark Kennedy played a delightful ball into the path of Kevin Horlock, whose first time cross was missed by Paul Dickov but not by City legend Shaun Goater, who finished with his right foot to grab his 29th goal of the season. City fans in the away home were in raptures, blues in the home stand erupted and the supporters who didn’t have tickets and watched the game from a hill at the side of the ground went wild. City were back in it but with Ipswich leading 1-0, the blues had to up their game if they were not to let their season’s work go to waste. And how they turned it around.
Richard Edghill pumped a speculative ball towards the Blackburn penalty area, which went past every City player and headed harmlessly towards the home keeper until Christian Dailly intervened. Shades of Jamie Pollock’s own goal against QPR surfaced for City fans but thankfully this goal was for the blues. With no danger, Dailly tried to guide the ball towards the keeper but, unbeknown to him, the keeper had ventured from his line to collect and Dailly headed City into the lead.
The third goal came with fifteen minutes to go. Nicky Weaver pumped a high ball forward which was flicked on to Shaun Goater, who played the ball out to the left. The cross came over towards Paul Dickov, but the little Scot was beaten to the ball, which bounced to a grateful and unmarked Mark Kennedy who struck the ball home sweetly with his left foot. The Irishman ran half the length of the field in celebration to a waiting Joe Royle. City were 3-1 up and whatever was happening at Portman Road was paling into insignificance. City were on their way back.
Four minutes later, the blues sealed the win. The ball was pumped forward again and headed out by the Blackburn defence but the ball rebounded of another Blackburn man and ran kindly for Paul Dickov, who ran into the open space to slot easily beyond the keeper and send the fans into raptures for a fourth time.
In Suffolk, Ipswich had scored again but their result was in vain. Blues fans invaded which virtually emptied the stands as City supporters from all over the ground celebrated and hailed their heroes. From the unlikely to the unbelievable, Manchester City had once again snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat in tremendous style.