This year marks a decade since a few thousand Arsenal fans didn’t like the taste of their own medicine.
It’s Manchester vs Arsenal on Sunday and talkSPORT.com took a trip down memory lane to remember Emmanuel Adebayor’s one-man war against the Gunners.
The striker had just been sold by Arsenal to City for £25m and, having scored the fourth goal in a 4-2 win against them, ran the length of the field in delight before sliding on his knees in front of the away end.
Unfortunately for him, there were some very sensitive supporters there that day in September, and some stuffed shirts at the FA decided to fine him and hand the Togo international a suspended two-match ban for his display of emotion.
Arsenal fans were angry before they even arrived in Manchester. They thought he had angled for a move away and those who had travelled north let him know what they thought.
Bu there is only so much abuse a man can take, Adebayor explained at the time.
“I was being abused by people who six months ago were singing my name and the abuse was for no reason,” he said. “There is only so much abuse a man can take until he reaches breaking point.
“An offer came in for me and, as I understand it, Arsene [Wenger] and the club accepted [it]. It was not my fault I left, it was Arsene who wanted to accept the offer for me.”
You could question the wisdom in his mad sprint, but he received a yellow card for his provocation.
“I scored and I wanted to show people it is not a good idea to abuse me. I really don’t understand it at all,” he added. “They were clapping [former Arsenal defender Kolo Toure] but they were shouting abuse at me before the match even kicked off.
“I was running on pure emotion and when you take emotion out of football we are going to have a big problem. People say I had time to think because I ran the length of the pitch but that is not true.
“I was abused all match and scored a goal I knew would win the game for us. Ten seconds is nothing. Your emotion is going to last a lot longer than that.”
Fining him £25,000, the Football Association accepted there had been hostile taunts from the away end, but said he still had a responsibility to behave.
“In reaching its decision the commission took into account his admission of the charge, [Adebayor’s] public apology and the extremely provocative nature of the abuse he received,” a statement read. “However, the commission also stated that players have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a proper manner and that such celebrations are unacceptable and have the potential to cause a serious public order incident. The two-match ban was suspended until December 2010 and will be activated in the event of a similar breach of FA rules.”
The FA had already handed a three-game ban to him for violent conduct in relation to his alleged stamp on Robin van Persie, though City at the time said he apologised to his former team-mate and added he did not intend to act in a violent manner.
The 2009/10 season was an eventful one for the club, which was the second since they won the Abu Dhabi lottery.
Following the victory against Arsenal, the club lost a thrilling Manchester derby 4-3 courtesy of Michael Owen’s last minute winner, Mark Hughes was replaced by Roberto Mancini as manager midway through the season and the club were beaten to the final Champions League spot by Tottenham thanks to a Peter Crouch goal.