Manchester City 2 Man United 1
Giggs 18, Tevez 42 (pen), Tevez 65
Roberto Mancini was so lucky last night.
He took off Tevez in 79 to bring on Benjani. And then in 84 he took off SWP to bring on old man Sylvinho.
If the last 15 minutes were nerve-wracking for me, what were they like for City fans?
He got away with it. He takes a one-goal lead to Old Trafford for the second leg.
When Mancini and his assistant Brian Kidd look at the last 20 minutes of that DVD, including the five minutes of injury time, they’ll wonder how they got away with it.
Bizarre team selection, really. He had two left backs on the flank against Valencia : Garrido and Zabaleta. But they gave the winger far too much space, Rooney stabbed his low cross against keeper Shay Given and the ball hit teenage centreback Boyata and broke for Ryan Giggs to tap in from one yard.
1-0 to United.
Tevez missed a diving header that was beyond belief, from a Shawn Wright-Phillips cross. A pointblank header, totally mistimed. Then Rafael tugged Bellamy’s arm just outside the box, Mike Dean gave a penalty, long delay, Van Der Sar rightly booked for gamesmanship, Tevez smashed it right down the middle. A fierce, emphatic hammerblow! Take that!
Second half I was screaming : Take Zabaleta off, put Ireland on !
Then a set-piece, Bellamy’s right wing corner, van Der Sar slapped it out, Zabaleta headed diagonally, the superb Kompany hooked the ball across into the goalmouth, and Tevez headed in from two yards with the six foot seven inch keeper standing still, not moving to catch or punch.
Keepers lose their nerve when they don’t play for months. That was August goalkeeping in January. A shot by SWP might have squirted under VDS’s body but he saved well. Rooney, energetic throughout, dribbled vividly, stabbed his shot, Given tipped over.
I was thinking : Push out, City! Defend from the front!
Which City could have done, except that Shay Given doesn’t come for crosses. He’s a stay-at-home Serie A shotstopper. And by then Mancini had taken off his best two ball-holders, who are also his two most fiery pressers.
An exciting, pulsating game. Goals, misses, tension, mistakes, pinball at times. Loved it, can’t wait for the second leg.
This was Sir Alex’s 36th Manchester derby and he’s now lost seven.
Seeing City’s cautious midfield, I was sure both sides would score. I backed over 2.5 goals and thought it was one of those rare games where the bookies are giving you money. But it still took me 65 minutes to be proved right. That was because Anderson was playing just behind Rooney. A goalscorer he ain’t. Anderson has scored one goal in 97 previous games for Manchester United.
Second leg?
If City defend zones, like they did last night, falling back deep into their own box, they’ll lose the second leg 6-0.
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P.S. Am I capable of writing anything before 11 a.m. that’s not full of mistakes and typos and missing words?
Honest answer : no.