April 10 – Bruce to the Rescue
WHEN teenage debutant Federico Macheda – who sounds far more like a spaghetti western character than a footballer – planted the ball in the back of the Aston Villa net last weekend to hand back the initiative in the title race back to Manchester United, it didn’t take long for the pundits to cast their mind back to a similarly important goal when the Red Devils’ were looking to break their title drought.
Today in 1993 Steve Bruce was the hero, as his two goals in the last five minutes gave his side a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday, effectively clinching their first championship since 1967.
United were locked in a battle with Aston Villa in the race to win the first ever Premier League, with the Villians leading the pack for most of the season. Norwich City also had a spell on top over the Christmas period, but they eventually had to settle for a Uefa Cup spot, but this would bring about one of the greatest days in the history.
Villa’s challenge faltered as the season climaxed, but United needed to down Sheffield Wednesday to keep their momentum going. With five minutes to go they found themselves a goal down, but just as they were last weekend, they would be rescued by an unlikely source.
Centre-back Bruce’s quick-fire brace has gone down in United folklore, as the club’s title drought was ended, and didn’t Brian Kidd know it, as he jumped up and down on the Old Trafford sideline like Tigger on E numbers.
United would go on to win the title by 10 points that season as a new Old Trafford dynasty was born and the Premier League began to sculpt the footballing landscape in it’s brave new image.
Today also saw a bit of a rumpus on the continent, so click here for a look at that. We’ll be back tomorrow for more footballing history, but if you can’t wait until then follow us on Twitter here.
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