We have read and heard about many battles won with the help of bullets and missiles, but there are some when your only weapon is passion. One of these battles is the Battle of Manchester. iSport’s Pulasta Dhar takes you through the vital points which decided the winner...
Since years, the blue half of Manchester has been waiting to match their red neighbour as far as football laurels is concerned. The money part has been solved courtesy the intervention of oil in the beautiful game, but the football part still needs to get a little more polished. There is no doubt that City will take home a lot of positives from the 3 games they have played against Manchester United this season, out of which two were decided in injury time.
If you look at the number of chances created over a period of 270 minutes in this season, then they are more or less the same. It is that telling factor which has propelled United to beat the blues. Of course derby matches bring out the best in the slated underdogs, but this time a hard to digest fact was that United were underdogs for some of the best brains in football journalism. When that happens to a team, you usually play along with the ‘We have nothing to lose’ banter, but when someone tags United in such a way, they cannot give that excuse.
The Carling Cup might not be on the agenda of the top four and I’m sure not much sweat is lost over the least valuable trophy in England, but in this case the trophy was secondary and pride primary. When Carlos Tevez put in the performance of his lifetime for City to go 2-1 up at home, the dice was rolling in their favour. It was the sheer drive that got him past the United defense twice and he made it count as well.
Ryan Giggs must have thought that he had the upset in the bag with a close range finish, but it was Carlitos who had the last laugh and the last finger at Eastlands. Neville is no stranger to pre-match comments and is literally hated by rivals. He must have lost the touch of the football, but he can still do the talking and the odd hidden finger. He was winding up Tevez all the time since his teammate started wearing sky blue and it was not a bad tactic too. The only fact here was that he picked the wrong guy. Tevez is almost Beckham-like in striking when it matters most and he did exactly that, sending Gary scattering towards the bench in both matches.
The stage was set for a great game at Old Trafford---United had to win by at least one goal (2 if City scored) and City could have wrapped it up by some diligent defending aided with quick counter attacks. Scholes almost re-winded himself back to glory days with a low shot into the corner of the net, sending the crowd into raptures of ‘Glory Glory!’ whose volume only increased as Michael Carrick provided a superb finish in-and-off the post.
If Man Utd had thought that it was all but over, then Tevez showcased his desire to win by snatching a back-heel into the net from a Bellamy cross. He deserved to score before too from the same man’s cross with a diving header, only for Van Der Sar to stop him brilliantly. It was all but over as United started piling on the pressure and City were lacking nothing but sharpness in their counters. It was not until the second minute of injury time as that man Rooney stepped up to head home and send red flares into the night!
The deciding factors were all mental. Patience, perseverance and a determination to win in front of the home crowd to send the worries about financial trouble fluttering for a while at least. Fergie was spot on in saying that experience will count and that is what happened. I still believe that United could have won the match earlier than the 92ndminute if Berbatov would have played. Rooney was looking for a support a lot of time when he was alone upfront and the physical presence of the Bulgarian would have made things difficult for City.
Well, football is a funny game and things went the way of Manchester United on the day it mattered the most. All we fans can hope is, the day that matters most is yet to come.
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aarti
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... hmmmn.....i just love your article pulasta....the way you put all points....for Manchester United its absolutely unseen. wan say that we all fans just desperately waiting for the Manchester's best game of goals.  |
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