The ghost goal in a chaotic season that spawned 'typical City' and began Manchester United's 70-year dominance

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

“Typical City” are as much a part of the rich fabric of Manchester City's history as the silverware and glory of their finest years.

Blues fans celebrate the fact that they have, for long periods, lived up to the derisory nickname of the “Theatre of Base Comedy” handed to them by their aristocratic neighbours, an insult that has rebounded on the Reds with a vengeance in recent times.

The hopelessness, the haplessness and the tendency to shoot themselves in both feet have had City's loyal supporters never knowing whether to laugh or cry — so they usually did both.

The day in 1996 when Alan Ball wrongly thought a draw with Liverpool would be enough to keep City safe from relegation, and they were duly relegated while playing keep-ball in a corner, as those who knew they needed a win frantically tried to communicate the truth; The day when City tried to sign football’s first superstar Billy Meredith, and their chairman ended up being chased around Meredith’s mining village of Chirk and thrown in the duckpond by enraged local fans; And of course, other moments of tragic hilarity, like having a player sent off for “walking aggressively”, or winning their last game of the season at Stoke 5-2 in 1998, but still getting relegated.