(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

It was an unusually sunny day in Manchester as the clock started counting down towards kick-off on one of the most eagerly awaited Derbies in recent times.

On the one side, you had United gunning for a fourth consecutive title and on the other hand you had City who’d just recently discovered Ali Baba’s treasure, literally.

The derby was always full of intensity, passion, and tension. There was one thing more important then points that was at stake; pride. To add to the sense of occasion was Tevez, returning to Old Trafford after making his move across Manchester.

When Rooney struck in the second minute score to make it six goals for him in as many games, I thought this was going to be a rout. But then the match swung in City’s favour when Barry scored off a Tevez set-up following school boy errors by Ben Foster and Rio Ferdinand.

Last season, United’s strongest area was the defence which set a record for minutes played without conceding anything. It was the foundation on which United built their bid for a third successive title. This season however there is still work to be done in this department.

An error like that was not acceptable for at least three reasons; This is professional football and you’re not allowed to make schoolboy errors, Tevez was prowling in the area and being witness to Tevez’s work rate as a teammate in the last two seasons, Foster and Ferdinand should have known what to expect and should’ve dealt with the situation proactively.

I am inquisitive by nature and that might explain my engineering oriented career and my various hobbies. However these days what triggers my curiosity is what goes on in the United dressing room at half time. It must have been a motivating talk or a blunt dressing down by Sir Alex because when United returned to the pitch for the second period, they looked possessed.

Soon enough the possession (pun intended) was rewarded as Fletcher headed home from Ryan Giggs’ cross. Lead restored and the crowd erupted in joy and relief. However this was short lived as Bellamy soon restored parity with a screamer. This time it was the sheer brilliance of Bellamy and the fact that O‘Shea failed to cover him that left the red crowd stunned in silence.

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