As Manchester City basked in the glow of their fourth consecutive Premier League title triumph, they could do so in the knowledge that they had got one over on their illustrious neighbours, but the limelight didn't last long.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United dominated English football in the 1990s and 2000s and twice won three titles in a row. But they never did four. No one ever had. Pep Guardiola’s serial winners have breached new ground in English football, continuing the momentum from last season’s treble that emulated United’s 1998/99 high watermark.
These are very different times for United. Erik ten Hag won the League Cup in his debut season last term but an eighth-place finish showed the end to their 11-year wait for a league title is as far away from ending as it has ever been. Yet their victory in the 2023/24 FA Cup final over their rivals gave them another notch in the battle and avenged last season's defeat in the same competition's finale.
So how much have City closed the gap on United during the past decade? Have they gone past them in any competitions and, if not, will they do so anytime soon?
The Sporting News looks at all the honours won by the two clubs from one of the major football cities in the world.
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Have Man United or Man City won more trophies?
City were the first Manchester club to win a major trophy when they won the FA Cup final in 1904. United’s maiden First Division title came four years later.
That was the first of a record 20 top-flight titles for the club. The bulk of those came during Ferguson’s incomparable tenure, during which United racked up 13 Premier League crowns. That remains more than City’s overall haul of 10 spanning their 130-year history.
Sir Matt Busby oversaw five First Division successes for United, split across the 1950s and 1960s. Following the last of those in 1966/67, they took the title race to the final day of the season in 1968, when City prevailed to win their second. They were relegated as defending champions in 1937/38 and remain the only English team to have suffered that fate.
United had the more-than-adequate consolation of winning their first European Cup in 1968 against Benfica at Wembley to close the campaign. Ferguson added two Champions Leagues to that haul.
Man United and Man City all-time trophies
| UNITED | CITY | |
| 20 | First Division/Premier League | 10 |
| 13 | FA Cup | 7 |
| 6 | League Cup | 8 |
| 21 (4 shared) | Charity Shield/Community Shield | 6 |
| 3 | European Cup/Champions League | 1 |
| 1 | UEFA Cup/Europa League | — |
| 1 | European Cup Winners' Cup | 1 |
| 1 | UEFA Super Cup | 1 |
| 1 | Intercontinental Cup | — |
| 1 | FIFA Club World Cup | 1 |
| 68 | TOTAL | 35 |
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City’s first European trophy arrived a couple of years later than United when they overcame Gornik Zabrze to lift the Cup Winners’s Cup. United won the now-defunct trophy at the expense of Barcelona in 1991. Their most recent continental success came when Jose Mourinho led them to Europa League glory in 2016/17.
Following their maiden Champions League success in 2022/23, City won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to match United’s solitary successes in those tournaments.
Guardiola’s run of four consecutive League Cups saw City surpass United in that competition, but their rivals added to their superior FA Cup record with victory in the latest final.
