Benjani joined Manchester City from Portsmouth in the second half of the 2007/2008 season for a fee of £3.87 million on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The Zimbabwean made an instant impact a few days later by scoring on his Manchester City debut against old foes Red Devils at Old Trafford.
The Citizens won 2-1 thanks to Benjani's 45th-minute goal to add to Darius Vassell’s opener, while Sir Alex Ferguson’ men pulled one goal back through Michael Carrick.
“That is the kind of a game that you don’t forget until you die,” Benjani told The Sunday Mail.
“That single goal in the Manchester derby changed everything for me. I became an instant hero, remember this was my debut for City and scoring in such a big game was no mean feat.”
“When I arrived at City I didn’t know the history associated with the Manchester derby in terms of head to head clashes.”
“I only realised I had done something big when journalists started talking about that victory being the first for City at Old Trafford since 1974.”
He added: It made me famous, the fans accepted me, and players embraced me. Sometimes you are not that good as a player but if you work hard you can achieve your goals.”
“After that match, the club even assigned bodyguards to protect me for two weeks as they feared something bad could happen to me. “But, being someone who was raised in Magwegwe back in Bulawayo, I later told them I didn’t need any protection.
“You see, I was brought up in a tough environment back home in Bulawayo and that kind of hardened me."
