Manchester City welcome Chelsea on Saturday in the latest instalment of one of the most exciting fixtures in the Premier League.
Here, football writer Adrian Kajumba selects some of the standout matches, goals and incidents the two sides have produced when they have met.
Denying Chelsea Invincible status - October 2004
Given the iconic Premier League figure Jose Mourinho became - and what Chelsea achieved in 2004/05 - this Manchester City win turned out to be even more significant than it may have seemed at the time.
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The eventual champions lost just one Premier League match all season, coming as close as anyone has to matching Arsenal’s achievement of going unbeaten for a whole season in 2003/04.
City inflicted the defeat that denied Chelsea, also earning the honour of becoming the first team to beat Mourinho in English football.
Chelsea had conceded just one Premier League goal in their first eight unbeaten matches, and had not been breached at all on the road.
But that all changed when Nicolas Anelka won and converted an 11th-minute penalty to clinch a 1-0 victory for Man City.
Irresistible Blues hit six - Oct 2007
Mourinho left Chelsea for the first time in September 2007 and once Man City visited almost six weeks later, they appeared to have put his departure behind them.
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Chelsea were part-way through a 16-match unbeaten run in all competitions under Avram Grant which peaked with their biggest ever win against City, a 6-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge.
Didier Drogba scored twice, while Michael Essien, Joe Cole, Salomon Kalou and Andriy Shevchenko were also on target.
Another of the match's highlights was an outrageous outside of the boot pass from Frank Lampard to set up Drogba’s first goal.
City had made their best start to a season since 1914 after winning seven and drawing one of their opening 10 Premier League fixtures, but they came crashing back down to earth at Chelsea.
“We forgot how to defend,” then manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said.
City give Chelsea the blues - February 2010
After a slow start, this match ended up being one of the most dramatic of the 2009/10 season.
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Lampard fired Chelsea ahead before City responded with four answered goals via doubles from Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy.
The Blues pulled one back through Lampard's late penalty, but it was not enough as City triumphed 4-2.
A disastrous day for Chelsea was capped off with two second-half red cards for Juliano Belletti and Michael Ballack.
The result secured Man City a first win at Stamford Bridge for 17 years and first league double over Chelsea since 1957 while they also condemned Carlo Ancelotti’s side to a first home defeat of the season.
Lampard haunts Chelsea - September 2014
After signing what turned out to be his final Chelsea contract in May 2013, Lampard said he had “a couple of opportunities” to remain in England but could not imagine playing for another Premier League club.
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“I’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of other Premier League clubs, particularly the top ones, but I'm not sure I could have done that,” he explained to talkSPORT.
A year later, circumstances changed. In the summer of 2014 he did leave Chelsea after 13 trophy-laden years, seemingly to join New York City FC, but he ended up spending 2014/15 with their parent club Man City instead.
That set up the scenario Lampard hoped to avoid - having to face his beloved Chelsea.
However when that day came, Lampard stepped off the bench to net an equaliser in a 1-1 draw with the sort of goal he scored from midfield so often on his way to becoming Chelsea’s all-time top scorer.
Lampard's goal v Chelsea
"It's a typical Frank Lampard goal - but it is *against* Chelsea"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 22, 2019
Frank Lampard returns to the Etihad on Saturday night 5⃣ years after he scored for Man City against his beloved Chelsea
📺 Watch full: https://t.co/IpgmSBE2r6 pic.twitter.com/bD9HuYdYFA
He followed it with one of the least surprising muted celebrations in Premier League history. He openly admitted the emotional occasion left him torn.
“I’m a bit lost for words. I didn’t expect to come on and score like that,” Lampard said post match. “I’m really stuck in the middle here.”
But there was no room for sentiment from Mourinho.
“When he [Lampard] decided to go to Man City, a direct competitor of Chelsea, love stories are over,” he said.
De Bruyne makes Chelsea pay - Sep 2017
Kevin De Bruyne became a big ‘one that got away' for Chelsea following his development into one of the world’s best midfielders after leaving Stamford Bridge in 2014.
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And he came back to haunt his former club when he returned to Stamford Bridge in 2017.
Chelsea were defending champions and Man City were in their second season under Pep Guardiola after finishing third in their first, 15 points off the pace.
Their early-season trip to London was, therefore, a key match in their bid to dethrone Chelsea.
De Bruyne's goal v Chelsea
Kevin De Bruyne on his favourite #ManCity goal: "I think one of the most important goals was probably Chelsea away, in the first year we won the #PL title [under Pep Guardiola], because of the significance that it meant for the team..." [via @ManCity]pic.twitter.com/E2Xsvqa8GM
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) February 22, 2022
They dominated proceedings but it was not until De Bruyne burst from midfield and fired a thumping drive past Thibaut Courtois midway through the second half that they successfully pierced Chelsea’s disciplined defence.
That sent Man City back to the top of the table, where they remained for the rest of the season, winning the Premier League with a record 100 points.
And De Bruyne’s first Premier League goal of 2017/18 was also his first of five against Chelsea. Only against Arsenal has he scored more, with eight.
Aguero inspires City's six-star show - February 2019
Sergio Aguero liked little more than scoring against Chelsea during his career.
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He netted 15 times against them in all competitions, the Argentinian striker only enjoying as much goalscoring success against Newcastle United.
Two Premier League trebles made up a significant chunk of his final tally against Chelsea.
The first in a 3-0 win at Chelsea in April 2016 made him just the third opposing player to score a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
The second was even more significant as Aguero stole the show to help Man City blow Chelsea away 6-0.
He scored three more goals on the day, including an outstanding, curling 25-yard effort to make it 2-0 as the hosts raced to a 4-0 lead inside 25 minutes.
It was Aguero’s second successive home hat-trick, following one a week earlier against Arsenal, and one that saw him equal Alan Shearer’s Premier League record of 11 hat-tricks.
City and Aguero’s joy contrasted with Chelsea’s misery. This day saw them suffer their worst defeat in any competition since a 7-0 top-flight loss to Nottingham Forest in 1991.
Chelsea finish off City’s title hopes - June 2020
The destination of the Premier League title, in the 2019/20 COVID-delayed campaign, had been clear for some time.
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The inevitable was finally confirmed after Man City suffered a 2-1 defeat at Chelsea.
The season’s three-month, pandemic-enforced pause plus City’s two wins against Arsenal and Burnley kept Liverpool waiting for the first Premier League crown they had long been craving.
But it became impossible for Man City to catch them and retain their title following their 2-1 loss at Chelsea, sealed by a late Willian penalty after Fernandinho’s handball on the line, which earned him a red card.
Chelsea triumph in Champions League final - May 2021
The biggest match between the two clubs came in the 2021 UEFA Champions League final and history repeated itself for both sides.
Chelsea edged the third all-English final in the competition’s history to win European club football’s biggest prize following a mid-season managerial change once again.
Just like in 2011/12, after Roberto Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas, Thomas Tuchel succeeded Lampard partway through the campaign and guided Chelsea to Champions League glory.
Havertz's goal v Man City
🔵 Kai Havertz's first Champions League goal ⚽️🏆@kaihavertz29 | @ChelseaFC | #UCL pic.twitter.com/cc6TpzflbU
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 2, 2021
The final victory was the third time Tuchel overcame Guardiola’s Man City in just over six weeks, following wins in the FA Cup semi-final and Premier League too.
For Man City, they came up short once more in their pursuit of the Champions League crown they coveted, in painfully familiar circumstances.
Without either of them, City were unable to control the game and a Mason Mount ball through the heart of their defence sent Kai Havertz away to score the goal that saw Chelsea get their hands on the trophy again.
Palmer swaps Manchester for London - Sep 2023
Cole Palmer’s move to Chelsea from Man City, one of the most eye-catching transfers between the two clubs, was about circumstances more than any reflection of Guardiola’s belief in his ability.
“We knew the quality he has,” Guardiola insisted in February 2024.
By Guardiola’s own admission Man City did not give Palmer the game time he would have wanted, opening the door for Chelsea to tempt him to London by offering him a platform to play regularly.
It did not take long for Palmer to make himself one of Chelsea’s most important signings for years, repeatedly performing heroics that at times left you wondering where they might be without him.
He has set a host of records, was named the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season for 2023/24 and become a full England international, scoring in last summer's UEFA EURO 2024 final.
Like De Bruyne for Chelsea, Palmer is perhaps the big one that got away from Man City.
Eight-goal thriller as Palmer grabs headlines - November 2023
An all-time Premier League classic was served up when Man City travelled to Stamford Bridge last season.
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Mauricio Pochettino’s new-look Chelsea went toe-to-toe with Guardiola’s treble winners and an incredible encounter unfolded in which the visitors led three times but were forced to settle for a point after a dramatic finish.
Erling Haaland gave Man City the lead, goals from Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling put Chelsea 2-1 up before Manuel Akanji levelled just before half-time.
Haaland struck again soon after the restart, Nicolas Jackson made it 3-3 but then Rodri appeared to have had the final say when he scored another big, late goal in the 86th minute to put Man City 4-3 up.
But this breathless encounter had one final twist that was dripping with narrative.
Chelsea won a stoppage-time penalty and, amid the tension, Palmer provided one of the first, big-moment displays of his composure.
He coolly converted the high-pressure spot-kick, celebrating scoring the decisive goal in his first appearance against his old club with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders as bedlam broke out around the Bridge.
Unsurprisingly, supporters voted this as the match of the season.
