Although City finished 15th in the league this season, they did come to Old Trafford on 22 March 1986 and hold the hosts to a 2–2 draw, costing them two vital points as their title hopes continued to fade. Both players refused to leave the pitch, leading the referee to take both teams back to the dressing room until the two players accepted their dismissals.[11]. 1993–94 saw one of the finest Manchester derbies ever, when United overturned a 2–0 deficit at Maine Road to win 3–2, with Eric Cantona scoring twice. Consequently, the Community Shield that began the 2011–12 season was a Manchester derby, as United won the league the same day City won the FA Cup, 14 May. The rest of the decade brought generally good fortunes for the two sides, as City won the League Cup in 1976 and were league runners-up a year later, while United reached three FA Cup finals in four seasons, although they had only one win in the competition. They led 2–0 at half-time, but two goals from Paul Pogba and one from Chris Smalling meant City had to wait to secure the title;[34] however, City's victory against Tottenham the following weekend, combined with a defeat for United against West Bromwich Albion the next day, meant City won the title with five games to play. During the 2014–15 season, City defeated United 1–0 at City of Manchester Stadium in November 2014,[27] but United won their next encounter at Old Trafford in April 2015 with a final score of 4–2, a game which City goalkeeper Joe Hart dubbed "one of my worst days in a Man City shirt". All four were subsequently part of the team which won United's first major trophy, the 1908 league championship.

City's 3–1 win in the first leg at Old Trafford was enough to send them to their third successive EFL Cup final,[37] as United were only able to manage a 1–0 win in the second leg at the City of Manchester Stadium;[38] City went on to win their seventh EFL Cup, their third in a row and the fifth since 2014.

City would later go on to draw at Old Trafford in the same season 1–1, Shaun Goater again scoring the goal. They would go on to win all of their opening 10 games and lead the First Division table into the new year, but eventually finished fourth.

United beat City 7–1 in a War League match at Maine Road on 14 April 1941, but this is not considered an official fixture and thus the result is not counted as the biggest win in the derby. The return game in early April saw United win 3–2 at Maine Road, with yet another goal from Cantona, who had netted a highly controversial penalty after Uwe Rosler had put City 1–0 FA Cup fifth round two months earlier, which United went on to win 2–1. (*) Charity/Community Shields includes shared honours after a drawn match, as per competition regulations prior to 1993).

City's win came in the FA Cup semi-final, knocking United out on the way to their ninth FA Cup Final, and their first trophy since 1976.

Jonny Evans was sent off in the 47th minute after fouling Mario Balotelli, with the score at 1–0 to City. In response to the record viewing figures during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, it was announced on 8 July 2019 that the fixture will be played at the City of Manchester Stadium instead of the much smaller Academy Stadium the women's team usually plays at. The feud started in 1998, when United captain Keane suffered a cruciate ligament injury when he fouled Håland (then playing for Leeds, a team that also have an unpleasant rivalry with United).