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Some memories are just not easy to forget, especially when they evoke positive vibes.

Seventeen years might have gone by, but yesterday English football giants Manchester City rekindled the moment when Zimbabwean international Benjani Mwaruwari scored the priceless goal that earned them a historic win in the revered Manchester Derby.

On February 10, 2008, Mwaruwari was on target against Manchester United with his goal, making a big difference in the 2-1 win, which ended a win-less jinx that had stretched on from 1974.

The goal and the celebration, which incidentally happened on Mwaruwari’s debut, just a few days after a dramatic deadline signing, have remained etched in the minds of all the generations of the Manchester City kin.

The club yesterday commemorated this special moment by posting a picture of the former Zimbabwe striker accompanied by the caption: “17 years ago today, we beat United at Old Trafford! Who could forget Benjani’s iconic celebration?”

Coming against a Manchester United side that was still at its peak under Sir Alex Ferguson, Mwaruwari’s goal and signature celebration, with the index finger pointing to the fans, has survived the test of time.

Darius Vassel had given the Citizens the lead in the 24th minute before Mwaruwari added his name to the score sheet just before the break. Michael Carrick pulled one back for United in the 92nd minute, but it was too little too late to deny Mwaruwari his marquee moment on the back pages of some of Britain’s biggest newspapers.

“We were winning 1-0 thanks to a goal from Darius Vassell,” Mwaruwari recalled in one of the interviews.

“I think Martin Petrov took a corner at the end our fans were at, and it was just on half-time.

“The ball was half-cleared to Stephen Ireland, and he played it back to Petrov, who put in a great cross, and I think one of the hairs on my head brushed it on the way, and it ended in the bottom left corner.

“I remember Micah Richards had made a lunge to connect, and so Edwin van der Sar couldn’t commit himself because I think he wanted to punch the ball clear. It was a great feeling, and I ran off to celebrate in the corner in front of our fans.”

What made the game more special was that it was also the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, which claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, when their plane crashed on its way back from a European Cup match in 1958.

“Of course, with it being the anniversary of Munich, this game also meant even more to the United fans, so when there was a minute’s silence before the game and all the scarves went up — red and blue — I knew this was a special day and that I had to try and do something special, too.”

Mwaruwari also explained where he got the concept to spice up his celebration.

“I had been in the dressing room with Carlo the masseur, and the TV was on. I think it was Britain’s Got Talent, and there was this guy from South America who won the show, but when the presenters were asking him how he felt, he couldn’t speak any English, so he just started pointing at the fans as if to say, ‘You, you, you, and all of you,’ so Carlo said that if I scored in the derby, that’s what I should do. I did score, and I did that celebration!”

“That put us 2-0 up at half-time, but we knew that this Manchester United side often came back, so we expected them to really come at us. “They were at the top of their game at the time. We knew the game wasn’t won, and that made us extra cautious because we also knew we hadn’t won there for 34 years, so I think that apprehension helped us win the game.

“We didn’t get carried away, did our jobs, and even when Carrick scored in 90 minutes, we knew we still had a job to do.”

Mwaruwari was signed on transfer deadline day in February 2008 from Portsmouth. He would only make 31 appearances during an injury-hit stay with City before a loan move to Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, and back to Portsmouth.