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Manchester City are one of the top teams in England and Europe. One of only three teams to win at least five Premier League titles, City have one of the strongest rosters in club football.
City's rise to prominence has been relatively recent. Following their takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, the Cityzens have swelled their league title count from two to seven.
Five of those titles - all in the Premier League era - have come since 2011, and City are well on their way to making it six this year. Pep Guardiola's men have also won numerous domestic competitions during this period and made their presence felt in Europe. They reached their maiden Champions League final last season, but lost to Chelsea.
Over the years, many fine players, especially in the last decade or so, have turned up for City. However, many opponent players, especially goalscorers, have had success against the Cityzens too.
On that note, here's a look at the five most prolific goalscorers across competitions against Manchester City.
Note: All stats are as per transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.
#5 Allan Clarke - 10 goals
Allan Clarke was a prolific goalscorer, scoring over 150 goals, most of them for Leeds United, from the mid-60s to the 70s.
The 1974 English League winner scored ten goals in 15 games against Manchester City - all in the league. However, only four of those goals came while the centre-forward played for Leeds, with the others (three apiece) coming with Leicester City and Fulham.
Clarke scored a hat-trick in Leicester City's 3-0 home win in the 1968-69 English top-flight campaign. His memorable strike in the 1972 FA Cup final is the stuff of Leeds folklore, though.
The 75-year-old Leeds legend later talked about that goal:
"It's a moment I'll never forget. I realised it wasn't going to reach me, so I thought 'Dive'. You only have a second to make your mind up, so I just took off and headed it. I knew it was going in."
#4 Alan Shearer - 11 goals
Alan Shearer is one of the most prolific goalscorers in English football. The 51-year-old scored goals galore during his glittering career in the 90s and mid-2000s.
With 260 goals, Shearer is at least 50 clear of the next most prolific scorer - Wayne Rooney (208) - in Premier League history. The Newcastle United legend netted 11 of those strikes against Manchester City, five of them coming while he was at Blackburn Rovers.
Shearer's landmark 250th Premier League goal was against City in 2005.
The former England international's only brace against City came in a league game in 2003-04, which Newcastle won 3-0 at home.
#3 Kenny Dalglish - 11 goals
Kenny Dalglish is a bonafide Liverpool legend, scoring over 150 goals in nearly 500 games for the Reds.
The eight-time English champion and three-time European Cup winner scored 11 times in 16 games against Manchester City in two different competitions. The 70-year-old, a centre-forward during his playing days, scored a hat-trick in Liverpool's 4-0 home win over City in the 1977-78 English First Division.
He scored another hat-trick against the Cityzens in the league, this time five years later in the Reds' 5-2 home win in 1982-83.
#2 Wayne Rooney - 12 goals
Wayne Rooney was a prolific goalscorer during his career spanning one and a half decades.
The Englishman scored over 300 goals in his club career, with 253 of them coming for Manchester United, a club record. Rooney (208) is the only player after Alan Shearer (260) to have scored over 200 goals in the Premier League.
He scored over ten goals against nine different clubs. That includes 12 strikes in 31 games across three different competitions against Manchester City. All but one of those goals came while he played for United. Of course, one of them is an incredible overhead kick he scored in the 2011 Manchester derby.
The five-time Premier League winner's last goal against City came in Everton's 1-1 Premier League draw at the Etihad in the 2017-18 season.
#1 Ian Rush - 15 goals
Ian Rush is a Liverpool legend, scoring almost 350 goals for the Reds, winning five league and two European Cup titles.
The Welshman scored at least ten goals against 12 different teams in English football. That includes Manchester City, against whom Rush netted 15 times in 20 games across three different competitions, all for Liverpool. Eight of those strikes came in the Premier League.
The 60-year-old netted three braces against City - two in the Premier League and one in the erstwhile English First Division.
