Michael Owen stole the show in a derby for the ages as Manchester
United demonstrated why the team from Old Trafford remain the city's
dominant force by beating Manchester City 4-3.
In the fifth minute of stoppage-time, when England's fourth highest
scorer had been shunted so far down the list of talking points he was
not even worth a mention, the substitute strode onto Ryan Giggs'
precise pass, looked up and calmly found the bottom right corner.
Sir Alex Ferguson danced, Mark Hughes looked punch drunk. One of the
most eagerly awaited Manchester derbies had become one of the most
dramatic.
Hughes was sick, angrily asking how referee Martin Atkinson had
managed to come up with so much additional time. He, more than anyone,
knows what United can do with it.
It left the rest rather superfluous.
For the record, United led three times but on each occasion were
pegged back thanks to their own idiotic mistakes. Carlos Tevez left the
field laughing. But only because Anderson was winding him up.
Sir Alex Ferguson has put forward a rather disparaging assessment of
Tevez's time at Old Trafford, highlighting why he did not feel the
Argentina star was worth the £25million United eventually offered to
pay.
Yet the Scot's assessment centred around Tevez's goals output.
No-one could ever quibble at his work-rate. It was one of the
reasons that made him such a hero among the Old Trafford faithful and
why the City fans were so quick to acknowledge talent beyond the
obvious humour of signing a player Ferguson was urged time and again
last season to sign up.
That knowledge left Ben Foster with no excuse for the truly abysmal error of judgement that gifted City their equaliser.
Even Joleon Lescott turned away in disappointment as his long pass
bounced into no man's land. Foster clearly felt it would eventually run into the area, which was a debatable point in itself.
Eventually, Foster realised more urgent action was required as Tevez stormed in, just as he should have expected.
Any chance of redemption disappeared as Tevez nicked the ball away
from Foster's grasp as he tried to reach the safety of his area, and
slipped a pass to Gareth Barry which the England midfielder gleefully
swept home.
The mistake was made worse by the knowledge Foster had already
received one warning, when he got his wires crossed with Nemanja Vidic
and allowed Tevez to half-block a long punt downfield.
Foster might have genuine hopes of becoming United's number one
goalkeeper and going to the World Cup. In one moment of madness, he
might have blown them.
An errant Wayne Rooney backheel might not have been of the same
magnitude but its consequences were almost equally dire for United.
Kolo Toure strode onto the loose ball and fed Tevez for the
opportunity to score a goal that would have left Ferguson distraught
and humiliated in equal measure.
Tevez thought his shot was going in. To his frustration - and Ferguson's relief, it bounced to safety off the post.
But it was United who made a bright start, with Rooney and Dimitar
Berbatov looking particularly threatening, when Shaun Wright-Phillips
let Patrice Evra run free at a quickly-taken Ryan Giggs throw-in.
Evra fed Rooney, who had the strength to wriggle past Toure and Nigel de Jong before prodding home from close range.
At that point, the noise was deafening. If anything, the volume had
gone even further up the scale at the end of an awesome first seven
minutes of the second half as United got their noses in front, only to
be pegged back once more.
Fletcher did the damage for Ferguson's team, rising above Barry to power home a Giggs' curling cross.
Yet, just as the hosts looked set to take control, with Park Ji-sung
and Giggs going close, Craig Bellamy thundered home an equaliser.
Bellamy had been buzzing around in his inimitable manner, but there
was no doubting the stamp of class on his 20-yard strike as he
collected Tevez's short pass, cut inside John O'Shea and drilled into
the top right corner. This time Foster was blameless.
But there was so much drama still to come.
Fletcher thought he had won it as he powered home a second header, again from a Giggs cross, 10 minutes from time.
Yet the suicidal tendencies in United ranks had not gone away.
Rio Ferdinand attempted an idle chip a minute from time, but found
Barry instead. Barry released Bellamy, who ran 60 yards before tucking
past Foster.
It seemed City had come through their biggest test yet. Not on your life.
Teams:
Man Utd Foster, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra,Park (Valencia 62), Anderson (Carrick 90), Fletcher, Giggs,Berbatov (Owen 78), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Neville, Nani, Jonathan Evans.
Booked: Anderson, Vidic.
Goals: Rooney 2, Fletcher 49, 80, Owen 90.
Man City Given, Richards, Lescott, Toure, Bridge,Wright-Phillips, Barry, De Jong (Petrov 83), Ireland, Bellamy,Tevez.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Zabaleta, Garrido, Weiss, Ball, Sylvinho.
Booked: Tevez, Bellamy.
Goals: Barry 16, Bellamy 52, 90.
Att: 75,066
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
sportinglife.com
