Manchester United 1 Manchester City 2
Manchester United 1 (Carrick 90) Manchester City 2 (Vassell 25, Mwaruwari 45)
A memorable day was ruined, not by City fans, but by a terrible United performance and a strong defence display from our Blue rivals.
Emotional, evocative scenes as the bagpiper lead the players out onto the pitch. The player’s shirts, free of advertising, badge, and names came from another age. The minutes silence was impeccably observed, saved for some fireworks from outside the ground. A very emotional start to the game, but I think it really got to the players.
City were as defensive and organised as they were in August. United tried to take the game to them in the early stages, but it was clear we were missing Rooney far too much for a team so full of stars. We missed Evra just as much; as much as O’Shea is a decent player, he doesn’t have the attacking verve of Patrice. Brown couldn’t put in a decent ball. Nani showed sparks but nothing came off for him. Only Tevez and Anderson really looked like they were up for the game.
Ferdinand had an absolute shocker today. Terrible. Could not put a single forward pass without hitting a City player. United were undone a fast paced City break which ended with Vassell able to have two attempts to get the ball in the net. The first was going wide, but Van Der Sar blocked it as he got back towards the goal; the second was coolly slotted into the corner. After that it was going to be nearly impossible for United to get back into the game. City scored again on the stroke of half time as Petrov crossed, Benjani Mwaruwari was able to glance his header into the net.
The second half was more of the same as United looked lightweight in midfield and up front. Fergie tried to rotate the personal but swapping one attacking midfield for another wasn’t going to work as Park was just as lightweight as Nani. Shame we’ve got no forwards left.
It was only when United got desparate and stuck Vidic up front and Carrick and Anderson into the midfield (Giggs ending up at left back) that United made some progress. Sadly Vidic is in the right place as a defender and whilst he was able to win the ball, he couldn’t make or score a goal. Only when Scholes made a wonderful pass to Carrick in injury time was the City defence opened up and Carrick struck the ball true and into the net. Too late for it to make a difference. When Rooney was absent through suspension, it was the absence of Ronaldo that hurt the most. On the pitch, but never in the game save for precious few moments of good play.
On a day when United played in 50’s style shirt, it was unfortunate that because of black and white TV, they never looked like their 50’s counterparts. They looked more like the 70s version that got relegated and lost to City at Old Trafford. A sad way to end a sad day.
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February 11th, 2008 at 1:26 am
What on earth did Capello do to Ferdinand whilst away on England duty? He was terrible - I agree. No spark in the team without Rooney.