MANCHESTER UNITED 4-3 MANCHESTER CITY
MATCH GALLERY
Manchester United fans hold a large banner in the stands
One-nil: Wayne Rooney opens the scoring in just the second minute
Foster looked shaky throughout the match
The man in blue: Carlos Tevez in action
City's key striker
Robinho
injured and in the stands
Anderson and Tevez battle for the ball
Tevez holds his head in his hands after hitting the post with a shot on goal
Fletcher scores his second goal of the goal
Rio made a terrible mistake as he chipped to Bellamy who was right in front of him and equalised 3-3 at the 90th minute! Rightly so, he feels dejected.
Two good: Craig Bellamy after his second goal
Tevez showing his frustration
Owen celebrates victory after the final whistle
Michael Owen celebrates with his team mates after scoring a 96th minute goal and seal the Derby for United!!
What a sight to watch! Michael Owen scoring the most important goal of his life so far at Old Trafford!
MATCH DETAILS
Manchester United's relentlessness broke Manchester City, but only in the sixth minute of unexpectedly extended stoppage time as Michael Owen made his first major impact for the club. Ryan Giggs put him clear and the low finish was exemplary. The visitors had no time left to seek a fourth equaliser. They had been intrepid.
United made a spectacular start. They struck after less than two minutes when Wayne Rooney ran on to a ball from Patrice Evra, danced between Kolo Toure and De Jong and guided his shot past Shay Given.
Carlos Tévez, back at his old club, and others showed substance for City. The expenditure has been studies exhaustively, but there was worth of another sort here. They had not bee discouraged by the loss of a goal in the second minute.
But then came the turning point, when Ben Foster just about ended any hope of becoming England's keeper, when he failed to make a simple clearance, allowed Tevez to tackle him and looked on in horror as his former team-mate played the ball into the path of Barry to convert an easy 16th-minute equaliser.
The first leveller saw Foster trying to take a loose City pass back into his area instead of thumping it into the stands. Tévez, however, attempted a tackle. The goalkeeper could not grasp the ball cleanly and City's terrier of a forward knocked it into the path of Gareth Barry, who rolled the ball home calmly.
Darren Fletcher scored a fantastic 49th minute goal from a header through a yet another excellent kick from Ryan Giggs (who else!!) 2-1! Things still looked far from settled!
It took City less than 4 minutes to respond when Bellamy moved across John O'Shea and, from the fringes of the area, lashed a drive high beyond the left hand of Foster. United by then, were at least enjoying territorial command and the attacking intent was confirmed when Antonio Valencia cam on for the diligent Park Ji-Sung. City were not quite to reach the refuge of the full-time whistle with a point. 2-2!!
Given twice denied Dimitar Berbatov before pushing a volley from Giggs over the bar. But when Toure allowed Fletcher to meet a cross from Giggs with another thumping header, there was nothing Given could do and United again regained the lead at 3-2.
Darren Fletcher seemed to have clinched a win when he notched his second goal of the day by heading home from a Giggs free-kick to establish a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes remaining. City, extraordinarily, rallied. In the 90th minute, after Rio Ferdinand lost possession, Craig Bellamy raced down the left and squeezed a shot past the unimpressive Ben Foster from an angle.
City refused to accept defeat, and duly punished an unfit Rio Ferdinand for his carelessness with a few seconds of normal time remaining. 3-3!!! It nearly looked like an unsatisfying draw.. hold on! there is more to the thriller....
Ryan Giggs setted Owen up in the 6th extra time minute with a brilliant low pass under pressure and the No. 7 jersey wearer did no mistake in putting the ball at the back of the net! 4-3!!!! What a match it was, certainly one of the best derbies I've witnessed.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was relieved to beat Manchester City at Old Trafford this afternoon, but stated that the 'power' of his team was decisive. Michael Owen believes he proved his dedication to Manchester United with his dramatic last-gasp winner against Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Well done United.. Hope they carry on with their impeccable form and confidence to the Mid-week's game against the Wolves.
PLAYER RATINGS
FOSTER- 4 - Shocking mistake for the first equaliser as he was caught in two minds. Was shaky throughout and Sir Alex Ferguson must have worries about his bottle for the big occasion.
O'SHEA- 6 - Reasonable showing. Didn't stand out on the ball or off it.
VIDIC - 6 - Not a great deal for him to do. Cut down Wright-Phillips when he was through on goal to get himself in the referee's notepad.
FERDINAND - 4 - Unbelievable mistake for Bellamy's second goal. How a man of his experience could do such a thing is remarkable.
EVRA- 7 - Pounced on Richards for the opening goal and was rarely turned by Wright-Phillips.
PARK- 6 - Started off brightly but failed to build on it. Never troubled Bridge and was understandably taken off.
ANDERSON- 6 - Decent showing from the Brazilian, but his manager will not have been happy with his failure to track Barry's run for the leveller.
FLETCHER- 9 - COMBINED MAN OF THE MATCH -Ghosted in to force the second goal and nodded in the winner as he charged past a dumbstruck Toure. Stood up well to the compact challenge posed by City's midfield.
GIGGS- 9 - COMBINED MAN OF THE MATCH- His lack of pace was countered by Richards but used his outstanding technique to glide past him. Showed his class to set up Fletcher and played the pass of the match for the winner.
ROONEY - 8 - Was too sharp for City as he got the champions off to the best possible start. Gave the visiting backline a tough time as they failed to stamp out his influence.
BERBATOV - 7 - Linked up well with Rooney and was caught in a personal battle with Given to find the back of the net.
Substitutes
OWEN- 8 - What a way to break your Old Trafford duck. Stole the headlines with his late shot past Given, that moment alone re-pays Ferguson's faith.
CARRICK- n/a
VALENCIA- 6 - A more dynamic option than Park, he helped the Red tide gain momentum in the second half.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
6 comments:
I wud certainly like some original Ratings,Foster is a good Goalkeeper but he lacks the big match temperement ,which showed in his performance yesterday,Bellamy's second goal was from a very tight angle it shud not have gone in and i will not wriet anything about the first city goal
what should the ratings have been according to u?
Ryan Giggs and Darren fletcher cud have been given the combined man of the match , no doubt Giggsy created the chances but it needed someone at the end to finish them and twice it was fletcher and the way Owen did it so coolly in the final seconds was fantastic, not everyone can hold his nerve like that
changes made, thanks for the excellent suggestion.. i agree Owen was so cool
The first pic which shows Owen going past Given in the final seconds is fantastic and the moment at which it was shot is creditable,Gr8 photograpy whoever has done that
hehe thanks... i will pass on the message to my personal blog photographer who took this
hahhaha :P
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