Match Report: The Manchester Derby

Utd won the battle of Manchester 1-0 thanks to a Wayne Rooney tap in on the stroke of half time. Utd were clinically good throughout – this was their best away performance of the season.

Fletcher and Carrick passed the ball enterprisingly in midfield, and were busy and energetic. It was this central midfield axis that grabbed Utd the ascendancy early on, along with the excellence of the effervescent Wayne Rooney. Utd were quicker, sharper, and always looked more likely to score – even after the controversial sending off of Cristiano Ronaldo after 70-odd minutes.

The Ronaldo incident was truly bizarre – on a booking, he rose to head a Wayne Rooney corner, but inexplicably put both hands up and palmed the ball away – clear handball. Deliberate handball is a booking, so no real complaint there. But it was plain odd – why did he do it? He claimed a push, but the replays showed nothing; then he claimed he heard a whistle; the replays showed there wasn’t one; then he claimed he heard a ‘beep’; what does that even mean? Even if he did, that’s no reason to stop playing! The referee’s whistle, and that alone, should be the only thing stopping you, and only then if you are 100% sure. It was very strange, and, to Roy Keane’s relief, it means Ronaldo will miss next weeks game against Sunderland.

Against 10 men for the last 20 minutes City did not really threaten – they were as blunt then as they had been throughout. Robinho was desperately disappointing, offering nothing at any point – Elano was poor after coming on, and took the worst free kick I have ever seen, blazing a 35 yard angled effort miles high and wide into the stand. Although their form player Stephen Ireland was busy and showed a few nice touches, there was no real penetration from him either. Vassell was completely anonymous and Mark Hughes must be straining at the leash to replace him. SWP ran willingly, but up against possibly the best full back in the world in Patrice Evra, got little change.

This really showed the gap City have to overcome before they can genuinely challenge for a top four place – man for man Utd were far superior, and City were forced to field Vassell, Hamann, and from the bench Daniel Sturridge – these are not (in Sturridge’s case ‘yet’) players who will get you into the Champions League.

Utd had far the better chances; City were restricted to a couple of off-target Benjani efforts. Conversely, Rooney missed a clear chance in the first half, and nearly scored from 50 yards as Joe Hart was returning from an attacking corner in the last minute – only an excellent save from the young keeper prevented it. Ronaldo whistled a header over early on, and Ji-Sung Park was nearly slipped in on a couple of occasions.

Overall it was an excellent performance from Utd, individually and collectively, and will have been a reality check for City and hopefully for their Arabian owners. Forced to field pure ineptitude in Vassell, you have to have sympathy with Mark Hughes and the demands placed on him.

If City can keep touch with the top eight come Christmas and reinforce in January, they have a chance of making the top six – but that is the best they can hope for. And to achieve that, they must get a hell of a lot more from Robinho.