Manchester United was literally hit for six by neighbors City in the top of the table derby game at Old Trafford on Sunday. Reduced to 10 men for most of the second half after the dismissal of Jonny Evans, the humiliating 1–6 score line was United’s worst home defeat since the inception of the Premier League, and the worst home defeat suffered by Sir Alex Ferguson in the 25 years he has managed the club.
The thrashing also brought to an end United’s 37-game unbeaten streak at home in all competitions.
Back in 1989, United were thrashed 5–1 by their neighbors at the old Maine Road stadium and Alex Ferguson was within a whisker of being sacked. At the final whistle this afternoon, City fans were taunting him that he would be sacked first thing on Monday morning.
Before kick-off everyone was anticipating a tight encounter full of quality between the top two clubs in the land. Not since 1968 had the two clubs been in their current league positions. City ended that season as league champions, while United were runners-up and lifted the European Cup.
Bearing in mind that City had managed only one victory in their last 32 visits to Old Trafford, most pundits expected the home team to probably just shade it. They could not have been more wrong.
United lined up with Wayne Rooney and Nani back in the starting line-up, with Danny Welbeck continuing to keep Javier Hernandez on the bench. The biggest surprise though, was that Nemanja Vidic was not in the squad at all, and so Jonny Evans kept his place in the center of defense.
Roberto Mancini dropped Adam Johnson in favor of the more experienced James Milner and selected Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguerro as his front two with Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri on the bench.
In fact the match started much as everyone had predicted with United dominating for the first 20 minutes or so, and City went ahead very much against the run of play. It was only the Sky Blues second foray into United territory when David Silva fed James Milner on the left side of the penalty area.
Milner pulled back a clever diagonal cross to where Balotelli was waiting unmarked in a central position. Cool as you like, the Italian marksman nonchalantly side-footed the ball inside David De Gea’s left-hand post with perfect placement from just inside the area.
Despite falling behind, United continued in the same vein but, with Nani out of sorts, could not find a way through City’s compact defense and were restricted to pot shots from long range which failed to trouble Joe Hart.
United Down to 10 Men
Just 63 seconds into the second half, United’s Jonny Evans lost his mind, hauling down Balotelli on the edge of the area, when the Italian was by no means certain to score. As the last outfield defender, a straight red card was a foregone conclusion and Evans was off.
Initially, the setback seemed to galvanize United into action and Rooney set up a decent chance for Ashley Young on 54 minutes, but the former Villa man missed his kick. A few seconds short of the hour mark, David Silva again worked some magic in a dangerous area cleverly exploiting United’s deficit in manpower.
He again found James Milner who was unmarked and had all the time in the world to put the ball across the face of the United goal for Balotelli to finish from half a yard out.
The team in red continued to try and make inroads, but City made full use of that man advantage and Sergio Aguero put them three up on 68 minutes.
It was not to be.
As it turned out it was City that finished the game with ruthless professionalism and United that imploded in a totally unexpected manner.
On 89 minutes Rio Ferdinand, of all people, gave away a corner with a loose back pass to his goalkeeper. The marking at the subsequent City corner was truly woeful and substitute Dzeko nipped in to make it 4–1 and end any hopes of a miraculous United recovery.
Then a minute later, Dzeko put in Silva who made it five. Nobody deserved a goal more than the little Spaniard who was magnificent all afternoon.
At this point all players in red except Rooney, who was literally screaming at his teammates, had thrown in the towel. In the last minute of stoppage time, Dzeko hammered the sixth nail into the United coffin with his second strike of the game.
Indeed, the Bosnian previously had at least a couple more good chances and could easily have been the first City player to score a hat trick at Old Trafford since Francis Lee in 1970.
Shift in the Balance of Power
In a postmatch interview, Mancini played down the magnitude of the win and focused on the three points that put City five clear of their bitter rivals.
The City boss emphasized that the win was “important for our confidence” and he will be hoping that this newfound confidence can give his players the belief that they really can change the balance of power and wrest the title away from the red side of Manchester.
He will also be only too well aware that Premierships are won in April and May not October or November. There is still an awfully long way to go.
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