Manchester United has gained some measure of revenge on neighbors Manchester City for the 6–1 defeat in October by knocking the defending champions out of the FA Cup at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Two goals from Wayne Rooney and one from Danny Welbeck saw the team in red three goals to the good at half time, thanks primarily to City captain and defensive lynchpin Vincent Kompany receiving a controversial red card with the game only 12 minutes old. But City reorganized their 10 men and pulled two goals back in the second half as United took their collective feet off the gas.
The main talking point prior to kick-off was the news that Paul Scholes had been coaxed out of retirement to try and add some much needed steel to the United midfield and would start on the bench. Chris Smalling returned to bolster the defense, allowing Antonio Valencia to take up his preferred position on the right flank.
City was without Mario Balotelli who is still troubled by an ankle problem, while Nigel De Jong deputized for the suspended Gareth Barry. The inspirational Yaya Toure, along with his brother Kolo, is on duty for the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations tournament and will be unavailable for a month.
City looked by far the more composed of the two sides in the first 10 minutes, yet it was the visitors who went ahead literally the first time they ventured into the City half.
Wayne Rooney was on the ball, played it out to Valencia on the right and continued his run to be in the perfect position to receive a typical quality cross from the Ecuador international. Rooney still had plenty to do, but managed to direct his header wide of City reserve keeper Costel Pontilimon and into the net.
Game Changer
Two minutes later came the defining incident of the afternoon, which essentially determined the final result. Kompany elected to contest a 50/50 ball with Nani by sliding in with both feet raised off the ground and two sets of studs showing. Nani fortunately saw him coming and jumped clear allowing Kompany to win the ball with no actual physical contact being made.
Nonetheless, the letter of the law dictates that feet raised off the ground with studs showing merits a red card and so the incident was interpreted by referee Chris Foy.
All but the most diehard United supporters felt the decision was harsh, particularly since no actual contact was made with Nani—let alone any injury—and a caution might have been more appropriate. But the referee had made his decision.
Despite this setback, the next chance of the game was carved out by City and a stinging drive from Kun Aguero brought the very best out of Anders Lindegaard in the United goal.
City’s 10 men held out until just past the half hour mark. Nani drifted infield before playing the ball out onto the left flank into the path of the overlapping Patrice Evra. The cross came in and the City defenders failed to clear their lines.
The ball fell slightly behind Danny Welbeck who managed to spin around and hook a very well executed volley onto the target and out of the keeper’s reach.
Seven minutes later, the United striker was in the thick of it again and clearly was brought down in the box by Aleksandar Kolarov. A weak Rooney penalty was blocked by Pontilimon, but the rebound came right back into the penalty taker’s path and the England striker gratefully headed the ball home.
City Fights Back
If the majority of spectators thought the game was already over and that United might truly avenge that 6–1 league defeat by scoring a hatful, they could not have been more wrong.
City manager Roberto Mancini sacrificed Adam Johnson and David Silva for the defensive skills of Stefan Savic and Pablo Zabaleta in the interests of damage control. But with United seemingly rather too complacent as the second half got underway, City was suddenly back in contention.
Evra committed an infringement a few yards outside the box in a perfect position for Kolarov to let fly with that lethal left foot. He beat Lindegaard to his left just three minutes after the restart.
