It’s unlikely we’ll ever suffer more painful decisions than Raheem Sterling’s goal against Spurs in last season’s Champions League quarter-final, or Gabriel Jesus’ added time ‘winner’ against the same opponents back in August.
But while one goal that doesn’t count is hard to swallow, imagine if you scored six goals in one game and none of them counted?
READ: CITY DNA: ‘And Denis has done it!’
Denis Law did exactly that in one game and not only were all six of his goals scratched from the record books, he ended up on the losing side.
The question you’re probably asking right now is ‘how?’
Let’s put this into context and, by the time this latest City DNA is over, if you decide that Denis Law is one of the unluckiest City strikers of all time, you’ll probably be right.
The date was January 28, 1961 and mid-table Division One City had been drawn away to second tier Luton Town at Kenilworth Road in the FA Cup fourth round.
It was a tricky tie on paper, but one the Blues were expected to win.
However, the rain in Bedfordshire had been unrelenting for days and there was doubt the game would go ahead – one journalist described it as resembling “a beach with the tide just out, then deep mud, then a shallow lake.”
No ideal playing conditions, but the pitch was passed fit and City soon adapted to the quagmire – far better than the hosts, while Denis Law positively revelled in it.
The torrential rain had made the contest nothing short of a farce, and as the game progressed, conditions worsened steadily.
Law, at his predatory best, was on fire.
The referee, Ken Tuck, had allowed 69 minutes of play by which time Law had incredibly scored six goals as City led 6-2.
One of the goals was questionable and today, technology might have awarded it as an own goal, even though Law’s persistence undoubtedly made it happen – but Law was still credited with it.
So, just 21 minutes remained – Law could have gone on to score another one or two – who knows? But the referee decided enough was enough and abandoned the match.
How the young City striker must have felt is not hard to guess, with all of his goals immediately scratched from the record books.
“It’s not every day that you score six goals,” recalled Law.
“I never did it again - the most I managed in a game that counted was four, which I got a couple of times. But then the heavens opened. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be.
“The funny thing was when we went for the replay on the Wednesday the pitch was in a worse state than it ever was on Saturday!
“At the time, I was fairly relaxed about it. I was only young. I just thought, it doesn’t matter, we will beat them in the second game anyway.”
“The only time I scored six again was in a five-a-side game after I retired.
“Obviously it wasn’t meant to be.”
The game was replayed four days later, and Law was again on the score-sheet – and this one counted – but Luton went on to win 3-1 and dump City out of the FA Cup.
In essence, Law had scored seven goals against Luton and still ended up on the losing team.
The game and the feat has been written into City folklore over the years and, quite rightly, deserves its place in our DNA series.
