On This Day: Liverpool ended City unbeaten domestic run; Victor Valdes was born

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (January 14th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On This Day in 2018 - Reds Inflict First Domestic Defeat of 17-18 Season on City

On 15 January, Liverpool brought Manchester City's unbeaten domestic run crashing to an end with a scintillating 4-3 victory at Anfield.

The Reds scored 3 times in a rousing 8-minute spell in the second half to go 4-1 up, then clung on after City scored twice in last 6 minutes.

Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain's low drive gave Liverpool an early lead, but City were level before half-time through Leroy Sane, who beat Karius at his near post following Gomez's mistake.

The game turned decisively in two minutes either side of the hour mark, when poor defending by Stones let in Firmino, and Mane - who had just hit the post - struck a stunning finish high past Ederson.

Ederson's poor clearance gifted Salah a fourth, and despite their late wobble, Liverpool closed out the win to go third in the table.

On This Day in 1982 - Victor Valdes Was Born

On 14 January 1982, former Barcelona and Spanish international goalkeeper Victor Valdes was born.

He spent most of his professional career with Barcelona and is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the club's history, having appeared in 535 official games for the club and won 21 major titles, notably six La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League championships. 

Valdes also won the Zamora Trophy a record five times. He currently holds the club records as goalkeeper with most appearances in the league and in official competition, breaking Zubizarreta's records during the 2011–12 season. After leaving Barcelona at the end of his contract in July 2014, he joined Manchester United in January 2015. He played rarely at United, and after a brief loan at Standard Liege, he moved on to Middlesbrough. After being released by Middlesbrough at the end of the 2016–17 season, Valdes retired from professional football.

On This Day in 2006 - Arsenal Smashed Middlesbrough 7-0

On 14 January 2006, Thierry Henry's brilliant hat-trick saw him equal Cliff Bastin's record of 150 league goals (228 goals in total) for Arsenal as the Gunners put 10-man Middlesbrough to the sword.

Henry opened the scoring with a superb volley, then Phillippe Senderos powered in a towering header before Henry broke clear to slot home his second.

Robert Pires chipped in, then Gilberto Silva headed the fifth before Henry slotted his record-equalling third.

14 January 1969 - Busby Bows Out

On 14 January 1969, Manchester United manager Matt Busby announced his retirement after 23 years in charge at Old Trafford, effective at the end of the season. As it turned out, it was a temporary retirement.

Although Busby had played for 12 seasons--8 for Manchester City and 4 with Liverpool--before World War II interrupted his career, he had no prior managerial experience when United hired him on 19 February 1945. He quickly mastered the learning curve, leading United to a second-place finish when the league resumed play in the 1946-47 season. They again finished in second place for three of the next four seasons (1948, 1949, 1951) and claimed Busby's first silverware, the 1948 FA Cup, before winning the league in 1952.

Busby was with the team on the way home from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade when their plane crashed in Munich on 6 February 1958. Seven players and three club officials were killed, while Busby himself was so injured that he twice received last rites. Remarkably, he recovered from his injuries after two months in the hospital and resumed his managerial duties for the 1958-59 season.

In all, Busby's United won five league titles (1952, 1956, 1957, 1965, 1967), two FA Cups (1948, 1963) and one European Cup (1968).

Upon his retirement, he remained with the club as a director while trainer Wilf McGuinness took over as manager. Busby briefly returned to the touchline when McGuinness was sacked in December 1970, but again retired at the end of that season.

On This Day in 1971 - The Greek Who Manned The Gates

On 14 January 1971, goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidas was born in the Greek city of Arta. He went on to help the national team to glory in Euro 2004 while becoming their top appearances leader at his position.

He began his professional career in 1987 with his local club, Anagennisi Arta, but spent the majority of his career with Panathinaikos (1989-2004) and Olympiacos (2004-2011), winning a combined 11 league titles and nine Greek Cups. But in the summer before he moved to Olympiacos, he manned the posts for Greece during their memorable run at Euro 2004.

They opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over hosts Portugal, then slumped to a 1-1 draw with Spain and a 2-1 loss to Russia. Still, it was enough to finish second in the group and advance to the knockout round, where Greece captured the trophy with three straight shutouts over France (1-0), the Czech Republic (1-0, aet), and--in the final--Portugal (1-0). For his performance, Nikopolidis was named to the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Nikopolidis went on to captain the national team and amassed a total of 90 caps before his retirement from international football in 2008, enough to rank him fifth on their all-time appearances list and first among goalkeepers.