Manchester United, oh you beauty! Not a United fan at all, but a fan of superlative football. I am lucky that today was just the day to witness of what is called the epic Manchester Derby. The day ended well as trillions of united fans around the world would be celebrating by painting the whole world red as the final score stated – Manchester United (3)- Manchester City (2).
Match in brief:-
1) Manchester City leading 2-0:- First half was completely dominated by City. With Yaya Toure and David Silva making the play and attacking at the same time, it was Dzeko and Balotelli who had the control over the oppositions. Ferdinand and Vidic were caught napping. Zilch marking and co-ordinating with the new squad was difficult for Ferguson’s devils, City took the advantage with 75% of the ball in Manchester United half and attacking centre backs.
2) The ‘De-Gea’ presence:- The lad could feel the pressure of being in Edwin Van Der Sar’s shoes. Wearing the no.1 jersey of the world’s famous and successful club and to handle the pressure is not a cake walk. With Van Der Sar serving united for 7 long years all the eyes were towards De Gea to perform and be at the topmost level for United. Bad luck, it took him 45 minutes to actually ressurect himself. An easy header by Lescott and an scorcher from Dzeko was something which even Peter Schemichel could have ‘SAVED’ at the age of 75. Two easy goals thanks to De Gea’s bad timing put City in front of their rivals.
3) United ‘Blitz Krieg’ :- Some talking by Sir Alex Ferguson did the magic. The man who threw studs at Beckham wasn’t expecting such a drastic first half score line. Harsh words and tactical changes put fuel to United’s aggression and in the span of 10 minutes they were levelled with City.
4) The ‘Nani’ i knew:- If you see Nani last year, he could not be compared to any FIFA registered player at all. With the class and technic he has, the performance chart last year did the talking, the graph then was falling just like America’s economy now. The Champions League 2010 horror is still fresh in the minds of all United Fans. But to my surprise he did exceptionally well, the one touch passing, the dribbling, presence of mind and immense creativity on the field, he bagged 2 goals.
5) City after 45 minutes:- If you’re leading 2-0 in 45 minutes, it is time for you to start defending and keep possession. The perturbation in the minds of City players as the time ticked 45:01 was inevitable. The ball possession, fatigueness, 5% complete passing, defending errors, wrong substitutions led Mancini’s team down to 3-2 from a comprehensive lead of 2-0. Kompany and Richards held their position well, but the spark was missing between the new signing from Arsenal – Clichy and Kompany which led to a slip-up as Nani took the advantage and was successful in putting the ball back in the net in the dying minutes of the game.
In all, the game was like a see-saw. Certain ups and downs by City and United built up the excitement. Their was not even a single moment where you could take your eyes off the screen. City did manage to take down their arch rivals with a wide-spread, but Manchester United displayed sheer class and composure, hence keeping the title of ‘True Champions’ bestowed upon them.
one cant blame de gea because he is just 19.. moreover the young guns of man utd were IMPRESSIVE and how…. Danny Wellbeck – sheer class, Smalling – superb as RB.. continued his long runs endlessly… Evans and Jones brought in at HT t replace stalwarts like Vidic and Rio,,, that says it all.. SAF is surely a risk taker but not to forget a master tactician… Moreover, Rooney’s presence all over the field made a lot of difference… Above all Ashley Young could just turn into the signing of the season.. he provided endless supply of crosses to his attackers… he was terrorizing Kolarov and made Richards look gullible at times… But the Man of the Match – Luis Nani clearly outclasses everyone on field yesterday…