That's a line being repeated again and again online and on air across the footballing world today (or at least the parts that care a lot about the BPL). And with good reason, perhaps. The Manchester derby last night was quite something, in many aspects. Leaving work on Sunday evening, a certain presenter here at ESPN-Star Sports asked what I expected from the big game, having called the Anfield result the night before. "I don't have a good feeling about it, but hope it's close" was my answer. I was half right, I guess!
This isn't the first "seven-goal thriller" that the fixture has produced, but here the red side left feeling blue, and smiles were reserved for the contenders, challengers and ultimately, conquerors. Talk of paradigm shifts and the balance of power in the city has been rife for the past twelve hours and would probably continue well into the season.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the game (from a United perspective) was the way the team capitulated near the end. Losing 3-1 against a City side that has been rampant and ruthless, a ten-man United decided it was best to go on the offensive. Of course, playing at Old Trafford against your noisy neighbours might mean that was a given, and having pulled a goal back it did seem like a good idea. But then the Red Devils conceded another, and another...
And even after the fourth, it looked like they honestly believed that they could get something from the game, pushing numbers forward. It's one thing to be brave and look for a realistic result (I salute you once more, Mr. Villas-Boas) but another thing altogether to be naive and simply stupid. Leaving only two at the back (one of them a noticeably sub-par and demoralized Rio Ferdinand) and having Danny Welbeck the only one tracking back? That's poor. Very, very poor. Amateurish, even.
Take nothing away from Manchester City, they were very good. But then the players who performed well at Old Trafford have been doing so at that level all season (or longer). No surprises to see David Silva pulling all the strings, getting into and finding pockets of space. James Milner has been a personal favorite of mine since he broke into the Leeds team and broke Wayne Rooney's record of being the youngest Premier League goalscorer. The explosive Mario Balotelli found the scoresheet again, and even that wasn't much of a surprise (the goal and the fire) nowadays.
As mentioned before, United are sorely lacking a midfielder who can link the player between defence and attack. I've said before that their poor play recently can be traced back to Tom Cleverley's injury, and the fact that United dominated the second half of the Community Shield suggests at least some credence to the claim. Missing this sort of link, Wayne Rooney was continually forced to drop deep (even deeper than Darren Fletcher) to claim the ball and start any kind of attacking thrust for his side. Lacking a strike partner, Welbeck was left isolated and was then easy pickings for the ever-impressive Vincent Kompany. One might wonder why Dimitar Berbatov is still denied game-time, and Javier Hernandez has been relegated to the role of Super-Sub (since his very poor showing against Barcelona). The situation was compounded, of course, by the frustratingly useless Nani, who I have never been a fan of.
The second half of the Community Shield also saw the withdrawals of Rio Ferdinand, who was poor then and was poor last night, though not nearly as horrible as Jonny Evans. The Irish defender has always been vulnerable to a striker with the slightest of pace (Liverpool know this very well) and his sending off was the invitation City needed to run riot. And they did. Such a rash, idiotic, and laughable decision from Evans, who should have known better.
But the red card would not have changed anything, from this humble United fan's perspective. Like Liverpool's thumping from Spurs a few weeks ago, the other team would have won, and were already comfortable regardless. Fingers will be pointed at players who let their heads drop, or managers who didn't sign Wesley Sneijder. But in reality, United were beaten - comprehensively - by the far better side on the day, and it remains to be seen if the blue half of Manchester will celebrate come May. Judging from this outing though, they are in with a glorious chance and United will need to hope that that Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool (Newcastle?) can do something to halt the City charge.
Oh right, happy birthday, Wayne Rooney.
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