Manchester City

Ground: Etihad Stadium (City of Manchester Stadium)

Visits: 2

Date: 6th April 2007

Match: Manchester C - Charlton 0-0 (Premier League)

Attendance: 41 424

Date: 29th December 2019

Match: Manchester C - Sheffield U 2-0 (Premier League)

Attendance: 54 512

Report (Manchester C v Charlton)

Just as last year I decided to travel to England during Easter. Four matches within five days and the fact I am always free from work this week makes this a perfect time to travel. I arrived in Manchester by 2pm but with a 5.15 kick-off I had plenty of time to check-in and have something to eat before heading towards the City of Manchester Stadium. I walked from my hotel (35 min.) and was at the stadium about 1h 15min before kick-off. I took some pictures of the empty ground and watched the ground fill up more than I had expected. 41,500 was there. Not bad considering the positions in the table. After some early (half)chances Man C fell asleep and in the second half the home team was very poor and Charlton had their chances but couldn´t score. Not the best of matches but a nice ground, reminded me in a way about Zentralstadion in Leipzig.

Report (Manchester C v Sheffield U)

My first game of the day, Crewe v Scunthorpe, ended at 16.52 but with the train station in Crewe being next to the ground I had no problems to buy something to eat and drink before catching the train back to Manchester Piccadilly. With kick-off between Manchester C v Sheffield being 18.00 I knew I would miss the start of the game but I was hoping to arrive after 10-15 minutes. The train was at Piccadilly 17.52 and I rushed towards the taxi rank. I was lucky with picking my taxi, the driver used some smaller roads and managed to bring me all the way to my entrance. He got a tip and after 3 minutes in 54 seconds I was in my seat, not bad! This was to be yet another Premiership game with the now infamous VAR-system in focus. Sheffield U took the lead but that goal was ruled of offside. Having seen the replays it was a very close one and the away fans were chanting “It´s not football anymore”. Manchester C eventually won 2-0 but it could have been a different story if that Blades goal have stood. Anyway, this was my second visit to the Etihad Stadium and although I am not exactly a supporter of Manchester City I have to admit it is quite a nice Premiership ground.

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