FA Cup - The Manchester Derby

FA Cup Spells MAGIC !!

by

Sahil

City went into this titanic encounter as clear favourites having not lost at home in over 30
games, their last defeat dating back over a year with a 1-0 loss to Everton.

City were without Baloteli and the Toure brothers who have left for the African Nations Cup.
United on the other hand were without Vidic, Young, Cleverly & Evans, all out through injury.
Lindegaard was given the nod ahead of De Gea despite the horror showing at Newcastle.
However, the United faithful were in for a pleasant surprise upon hearing the name of Paul
Scholes, yes, the Ginger Prince had inked a short team deal till the end of the season to bail his
beloved side out of an injury crisis.

What unfolded over the 90 minutes will go down as yet another FA Cup Classic. A tale of two
very distinct halves with umpteen talking points in each.

The line ups -
Manchester City : Hart, Micah, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, De Jong, Barry, Johnson, Nasri, Silva,
Aguero
Manchester United : Lindegaard, Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Giggs, Carrick,
Nani, Rooney, Welbeck

City started on the front foot as expected but really didn’t test the United No.1. However,
against the run of play, in their first attack on the counter United proved to be lethal. Valencia
was set free on the wing & he delivered a precise cross which was met by a brilliant long range
header by the recently much maligned United No.10 who according to the tabloids was subject
to a possible 60m£ bid by none other than City. The relief was evident on Rooney’s face after
the goal and he planted a long, hearty kiss on the Red Devil’s Logo on his jersey.

What followed next proved to be a possible game changing incident. A ball played to Nani was
a bit too heavy for the Portuguese winger and the City captain “stepped” in to win the ball.
Nani got up without a complaint & began chasing the ball. However Rooney, Giggs & Carrick
had seen something that didn’t please them one bit & circled Chris Foy protesting of a two
footed lunge by Kompany. The referee showed no hesitation in dishing out a direct Red which
was surprisingly taken without too much complaint by the City Skipper. The replay’s however
showed that Komapny had won the ball cleanly & hardly made any contact with Nani. In the
days of yore that tackle would have been applauded at. In more recent times it probably would
have just been a foul or if the referee was a weak hearted man then it would’ve earned the
player a yellow card much to his dismay. But modern days footballers are such a protected
species and the rules so vague that episodes like these happen time & again.

United made their advantage count & how. Welbeck was first to react to a loose ball in the
City D-box & volleyed in a Ba-esque fashion. Things would only get worse when Welbeck was
clumsily brought down in the box by Kolarov. Rooney stepped up to take the spot kick. It was
smartly saved by the City shot stopper but Rooney was offered acres of space and no pressure
to nod home the rebound into an empty net. 3-0 to United and there looked no coming back
into it for City. Valencia’s cross on the stroke of half time was met by a diving Welbeck and
went just inches past the City post. The half time whistle blew to the jeers and boos of the City
fans.

What we witnessed in the 2nd half was beyond anyones wildest imagination. Mancini took off
Silva & Johnson at half time & brought on Zabaleta & Milner. Just few minutes into the 2nd half,
Kolarov planted a delightful free kick between lindegaard’s posts. Then we witnessed wave
after wave of City attack with United looking quite rattled. It was tough to say which team was
playing with a man down. Nani was subbed in the 59th minute & on came Paul Scholes to a
rapturous ovation. He looked a bit rusty & a careless give away by Scholes resulted in City’s 2nd
goal which Aguero slotted in on the 2nd attempt. The City faithful were anticipating a historic
comeback from their side & Mancini put Micah up front. United had good spells of possession
but City’s 3-4-2 formation had them nervous throughout. There were some frantic moments
towards the end in the United D-box with Savic getting his face bloodied in the cause. United
finally held on for the win but Mancini will have been mighty proud of the heart shown by his
boys. Things might well have turned out differently if Narsi had been pulled off instead of Silva.

Several cracks in the United team were exposed yet again and United need to address these
sooner than later. A reliable right back – Jones was shaky yet again; a genuine defensive mid to
mop things up – no wonder Fergie is desperately behind Tiote; a creative mid, no, not a 37yr
old Scholesy :p . A long term replacement for Evra who seems to be way past his glory days.
The most important person at Manchester United in not Malcolm Glazer, neither is it Wayne
Rooney nor Sir Alex Ferguson as is common thought but Nemanja Vidic, the cornerstone behind
United’s success over the past half decade. After tonight’s game how Sir Alex would’ve wished
that his big Serbian centre back hadn’t succumbed to that tackle that fateful night in Basel. His
men soldier on though, but for how long is any ones guess with a daunting trip to Anfield in the
next round.