Manchester United 2 Man City 1
Nani 41, Silva 65, Rooney 78
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Asked about his 4-5-1 formation before the game, Sir Alex said it had worked very well against Arsenal, so he decided to do the same again : “I’ve put all the footballers in there,” he claimed with a grin.
You’ve all seen the goal of the season that kept United four points above Arsenal with 12 games to play.
So let’s talk about a save, a barge and a touch.
Edwin van der Sar’s save, Rooney\’s barge, and Nani\’s touch.
In the 4th minute David Silva darted into the six yard box and the big Dutchman made a fabulous save without touching the ball. Great goalkeeping. The angle was very narrow and he covered the whole goal and the replay showed that the only way Silva could have scored from three yards was to slot it between the legs of the crouching keeper.
First half, Nani was shooting and shooting and shooting over the bar from distance, the rampaging Micah Richards tanked through Evra on a 50-50, and City were the better side.
But I was thinking : it’s rope-a-dope, United will nick a goal in the second half and win 1-0.
Clearly, Manchester United put the ball up for grabs more than City and their breakthrough goal showed that after 41 minutes.
John O\’Shea passed back to Edwin van der Sar and when he launched it from his six-yard box to beyond the centre circle, Rooney jumped into Lescott in a crafty manner, so it was not an obvious foul.
The ball fell to Ryan Giggs, who chose to hit the ball forward first time into Nani\’s run. Frankly, that was an experimental pass which required a preposterous demonstration of balance from Nani to make anything possible.
Left back Zabaleta checked momentarily because he didn\’t think Nani would get the ball, and neither did I because Giggs\’s volleyed pass was still four feet off the ground and it\’s almost impossible for a sprinting player to raise his foot that high without losing his balance.
But the Portuguese wing wizard\’s first touch in the D was sublime and he took a silky set-up touch and he still hadn\’t checked his stride and then he slotted sweetly with his left foot.
Rooney\’s barge had started the move for a wonder-goal that was later neglected because his own winning goal was even more spectacular.
I\’ve watched Nani\’s goal 12 times now and it’s sheer class, super class.
My opinion : even Cristiano Ronaldo, prolific super-gladiator that he is, could not have scored that goal from that ball.
Up front on his own, Rooney had a very hard time because Vincent Kompany kept him kompany all through the match and played a blinder, despite picking up an early yellow card for a very rough challenge on Wayne.
City’s equaliser in 65 was streaky. It came when sub Shaun Wright-Phillips crossed low and Dzeko hit a shot that went in off Silva\’s back.
That was 1-1 and it was a fair reflection of the game. But there was still plenty of time for another goal or two.
Just as I was beginning to tire of Rooney\’s indefatigable pursuit of the obvious, he scored a Denis Law wondergoal with an overhead kick of unstoppable velocity that left Joe Hart stunned and motionless.
Nani\’s right wing cross deflected off the back of the luckless Zabaleta, that wrong-footed Kompany, and the ball flew behind Rooney and five feet off the ground and he just thought : What the hell! Go for the overhead kick !
That happens sometimes. An off-form striker stuns a stadium with a spectacular goal.
So it was 2-1 in 78 and the ecstatic United fans sang, “Tevez, Tevez what the score?â€
Overall, a far better game than most Manchester derbies.
But Tevez still doesn\’t pass to the big, lumbering Bosnian, whose turning circle is almost double that of Van Persie. Dzeko envies RVP because he gets service. It\’s hard to score if you never get a pass and impossible to integrate if you only come on as a sub.
Man City mainly play Tevez football and Mancini needs to develop the team beyond that. They don\’t mix it up enough and don\’t support their attacks enough.
BOTTOM LINE : City are a work-in-progress. They lost 2-1 to the best team in England and it took a great goal to beat them.
On his Match of the Day interview, Kompany said, “I gave him nothing during the whole game, and then he does that.”
Wayne said, “Definitely the best goal I’ve ever scored.”
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