How the Tables Have Turned for Man City and Middlesbrough Since Boro's 8-1

Back in 2008, Manchester City were hammered 8-1 by Middlesbrough on the final day of the season, a result which remains a low point for Blues supporters in recent times.

It was a shocking performance that brought to an end a season that had started with such promise, but the following summer would change the face of the club forever and usher a new period of untold wealth and domestic success.

City face Middlesbrough again this weekend in Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie at the Etihad, but how have the two clubs’ fortunes differed since that memorable 8-1 massacre on Teesside? Rob Pollard, Bleacher Report’s Manchester City correspondent, takes a look.


The 2007/08 season began brightly for Manchester City. A new owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, had brought hope and optimism, and the new manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, had entered the market enthusiastically, enticing a host of players from all corners of the world to the Etihad.

They were relatively unknown but exotic names that whetted supporters’ appetites. Elano, Martin Petrov, Vedran Corluka, Geovanni and Gelson Fernandes brought a swagger to City that had long been lost—a passing game light years ahead of anything managed under Stuart Pearce, Eriksson’s predecessor.

Ask any City fan in attendance at Upton Park on the opening day of the season and they will tell you it was one of their best away matches in recent years. The anticipation and excitement before the game was ratcheted up a few notches after a comfortable 2-0 win, notable for the style with which it was completed.

City were top of the table after three games and had beaten Manchester United, their great rivals, 1-0 at home, somewhat fortuitously but in glorious fashion after a long-range Geovanni winner. Michael Johnson, the club’s home-grown midfield player with star quality, was flourishing, and City were once again expectant.

It was a remarkable turnaround from the dire football played under Pearce, and after a 2-0 win away at Newcastle United in early January, City were fourth in the table.

Pearce’s City had largely resided in the bottom half of the Premier League table. This was new, and the feel-good factor was notable at every game City played during the first three quarters of the campaign.

Warren Little/Getty Images

However, by the end of the season, the optimism had dissipated after a poor run of form. City were battered 8-1 on the final day of the season at Middlesbrough, a result which saw them finish ninth in the table. Richard Dunne was sent off after 15 minutes and City collapsed—Afonso Alves, a player who scored just 10 goals in 42 matches for Boro and went down as a certified flop, bagged a hat-trick.

After such a strong start, it was hugely disconcerting, and despite the "Save Our Sven" protests, Eriksson was dismissed.

But that summer changed everything at City. Shinawatra, struggling to keep the club afloat financially, instructed Garry Cook to find a buyer, and he was as good as his word, selling a vision of Manchester City and its capacity to be a global brand to Sheikh Mansour, whose ADUG company bought the club and instantly began a programme to revolutionise City and make them successful once more. (A full rundown of that process can be heard via Cook himself in a recent interview with the Blue Moon podcast).

Two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup later, and it’s clear their plan has worked. City are regular Champions League participants, debt-free and with a far bigger income than at any stage during the club’s history.

But what of Middlesbrough?

Their path has, of course, been somewhat more challenging since that day in May 2008. Relegation from the Premier League the following season under Gareth Southgate saw them drop out of the top flight for the first time since 1998, just four years after their run to the UEFA Cup final under Steve McClaren.

Southgate’s Boro lacked the same intensity and magic of some of the previous incarnations at the Riverside Stadium and were, to some extent, devoid of an identity.

Warren Little/Getty Images

And so far their demotion has proven to be permanent. Their first two seasons in the Championship saw mid-table finishes, before a seventh-placed finish in 2011-12, where they finished five points off a play-off place.

However, last season was their worst since being relegated, as they ended the season in 16th place, a disappointing end to a campaign which included a run to the FA Cup quarter-final.

Most are aware just how difficult the Championship is, but Middlesbrough have found it incredibly tough.

There’s a renewed sense of hope on Teeside now, though, with the club sat in second place and confident of promotion. Former Real Madrid star Aitor Karanka is in charge and Boro is once again a club with confidence and playing with freedom.

They will bring 5,000 fans to the Etihad on Saturday and face a pressure-free game—a one-off chance to beat the champions who haven’t played well since Boxing Day.

It won’t be an easy task for City, who lost to Wigan Athletic in this competition last season after a scare from Watford in an earlier round.

The difference in fortunes since 2008 is incredible, though. What a difference six-and-a-half years makes.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard