Background: Back at Old Trafford via a club-record £1.8million deal, following continental stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Mark Hughes had netted in five of his six previous league games as we prepared to face the Rams on this day 31 years ago, amid a perplexing run of eight draws in nine league outings for Alex Ferguson’s side.
The goal: Trailing 1-0 through Dean Saunders’s seventh-minute strike, the Reds produced some neat passing in the 42nd minute which culminated in Hughes receiving the ball from Mick Duxbury. Still 30 yards out, ‘Sparky’ somehow stayed on his feet despite a hefty attempted chop from Trevor Hebberd, before the Welshman arrowed a low drive past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.