UNITED WIN ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN

 

 

Manchester City. A team us reds used to laugh at, but recently we've had to take them more and more seriously. Having said that, former United assasin Mark Hughes wasn't able to do much against us last season. Sparky's first attempt to outsmart Fergie fell flat with a 1-0 United win at the City of Manchester Stadium. Following on from that, a result at Old Trafford allways looked unlikely and sure enough, they were seen off 2-0 at Old Trafford late on in the season. City wound up cruising to mid-table with Blues fans having expected better. United on the other hand, once again showed those with more money than brains how things should be done.

This time around, we have to take City more seriously than ever. Sparky's standing orders are to get the Blues into the Champions League and so far he's going the right way about it. He and Fergie have been exchanging potshots at each other and everything was at fever pitch for the first Premiership rumble at Old Trafford. For his part, Fergie sent United out in a 4-4-2, O'Shea right back, Rio and Vidic centre back, Park right mid, Anderson and Fletcher centre mid, Giggsy left mid and captain. Rooney and Berbatov up front. City looked like they were going to give it their best shot with at least one familiar face in tow but this was our turf, United were the safe bet for the three points.

United did not hang around. In the 2nd minute Evra crossed to Rooney and the Reds went one up. The Blues were more than happy to bring it on though and caught us off guard in the 18th when Joleon Lescott crossed to Carlos Tevez who nudged it to Gareth Barry who easilly found the net. That really did raise City's confidence and it was the Blues who ran the show for most of the rest of the half. In the end I was happy to just wait for the half time whistle. If there was any doubt that City now mean business, this 45 minute spell wiped it away. Fergie definately needed to find another gear if we were to see off our newly emboldened rivals.

Fine by us. In the 49th minute a Giggsy free kick found the head of Fletcher and City had to dig themselves out of another hole. However City quickly replied with Tevez setting up Craig Bellamy who fired in a 52nd minute scorcher. Neither side was done yet though and Fergie threw on fresh legs as United besieged the City goal, finally breaking the deadlock in the 80th minute as Fletcher headed in another Giggsy cross for his second goal. Game over right? Not quite. United's defence had a braindead moment in injury time, allowing Barry to set up Bellamy and the Welsh assasin got his second! Then came the interesting part, more added time than even I was expecting. The City fan on Fanzone went berserk with rage and then got even madder when Giggsy set up another United goal, this time for our newest assasin Owen. Bottom line, when the dust settled, the Reds were ones still standing. It's not like City haven't benefitted themselves from dodgy referees on derby day in the past either.

Elsewhere, Chelsea faced Spurs at Stamford Bridge. Ashley Cole opened the scoring for the Blues and generally had the better of the first half with Spurs starting to look like they've burned out after their early season form. Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba then finished the game off with plenty of time to spare and in much smoother style than United had been capable of that weekend. Overhauling them is going to take some doing. Right now United are second in the Premiership, three points behind leaders Chelsea and three points ahead of City and a detour through the Champions League preliminaries next season. However City have a game in hand so won't be so easy to get rid of.

Morth of the border, Aberdeen faced St MIrren at Pittodrie in the SPL. The Dons were the more attacking of the two teams early on though St Mirren did start to wake up late on in the first half but neither side were able to score before half time. The Dons proceded to hammer the St Mirren goal in the second half and eventually a Mulgrew free fick was able to secure the three points with St Mirren having to finish the game with ten men. A solid win from the Dons despite some internal issues due to Aluko apparantly attending a Nigeria under 20s training camp in Spain without AFC's permission. The problem's solved now though with the Dons assasin set to play in the under 20s World Cup in Egypt.

Elsewhere, Dundee United faced Motherwell at Tannadice Park. In the first half the Tangerines had the better of the game but given the quality of the contest that didn't say much with tough tacking more the order of the day than quality shooting. The home side continued to get the lions share of chances in the second half but it was Well's Ross Forbes that opened the scoring with a penalty and the home side were unable to find an equaliser. That allowed Aberdeen to move up to 5th in the SPL, one point behind Motherwell and a Europa League spot and three points ahead of St Mirren and the bottom half of the table. So far so good.

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