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City lifted the top flight title on the pitch, pipping their rivals to the post in famous fashion on the last day of the 2011/12 campaign.
But financial figures for the season show United continued to reign supreme off the pitch, with by far the highest revenues in the league - £320.3m.
The data, compiled by the Manchester office of business advisory firm Deloitte, showed City is closing the gap.
Its sales grew 51 per cent to £231.1m, the fourth highest in the top flight, behind Chelsea and Arsenal. When it came to operating profits, the Reds topped the league again, at £84.2m.
Meanwhile, City posted the second biggest operating loss in the top flight, at £21m, with only Aston Villa recording a bigger deficit.
The Blues did top the league on another front, according to the study – salaries.
It shows the Etihad Stadium wage bill was £201.8m, dwarfing that of second-placed Chelsea, at £172.9m and United, at £161.7m.
Old Trafford saw by far the highest average attendance during 2011/12, at 75,387, followed by Arsenal, at 60,001, Newcastle, at 50,280, then City, at 47,045.
The Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance shows the Premier League clubs posted record collective revenues of £2.36bn during the season.
That is set to smash the £3bn barrier next year, as the clubs pocket an extra £600m in broadcast rights between them.
But the study's authors warned club bosses not splurge all that cash on wages, instead investing in stadia and youth development.
The study added the government received £1.2bn in tax from all 92 professional clubs in England.
Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “Despite operating in a challenging economic environment, English club football’s profile, exposure and increasingly global interest have continued to drive revenue growth for the top clubs.“
The combined revenue of the Premier League clubs increased by four per cent to almost £2.4bn, with another year of impressive commercial revenue growth, largely focussed among the highest ranked Premier League clubs, and relatively stable matchday and broadcast revenues.”
The Deloitte report predicts player wage costs will rise considerably with the new TV money coming in - but says that clubs could keep that rise to respectable levels and allow more money to be spent on stadia, youth development and reducing losses.
"Achieving a more sustainable balance between their costs and revenues and thereby generating more profits provides opportunities or, some might say, a culture shock for clubs," says the report.
"Increased profitability will allow greater longer-term investment in stadia and training infrastructure, youth development and community programmes.
"It also provides funds for the acquisition of talent, as clubs in the top flight can use the self-generated funds to transfer in and retain top playing talent to strive to improve the quality of football on show."
Premier League clubs' revenue reached a record £2.36bn in 2011/12, but most of that went on wages - up 4 per cent - to remain 70 per cent of total turnover.
In the Championship, the picture is even more alarming with only five of the 24 clubs finishing in the black and overall 90 per cent of all revenue going on wages
Alan Switzer, director in the sports business group at Deloitte, said: "It's fair to say some Championship clubs are rolling the dice and gambling on getting into the Premier League."
The financial regulations the Football League has brought in seek to address that, and if the losses are above the allowed limit then the club will have an embargo on transfers."
