Manchester Derby: Not a Day to Remember for United

Old Trafford was packed long before kickoff in anticipation of the 149th Manchester Derby and also for the homage to all those who died in the Munich Air Disaster fifty years ago.

Both teams wore special jerseys in honor of the anniversary, with United donning exact replicate tops as the ones worn by the Busby Babes in 1958.

United’s jerseys were void of the player’s names on the back and each member of the squad was assigned a number from 1-16, in honor of the way things worked half a century ago.

Both sets of players wore black armbands and were involved in a minute’s silence before kickoff.

The game began with United looking to be the more dangerous side. Ronaldo, playing up front alongside Carlos Tevez in the absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney, was eager to carve a way through City’s defense, while Anderson and Scholes busied themselves in the midfield as they looked to feed Nani and Giggs on the wings.

Unfortunately for United, they were unable to find a goal, and were made to pay the price after twenty-four minutes. Petrov provided a glorious through ball from the left side of midfield for Benjani Mwaruwari (making his debut for the club) to meet.

Luckily for United, Van der Sar was there to parry it away. Luck soon turned in City’s favor, however, as the ball fell straight into the path of the oncoming Darius Vassell.

The makeshift winger had his first shot saved by Van der Sar but there was nothing Van der Sar or anyone else on United could do about his follow up as it was guided coolly towards the back of the net.

United were stunned. Manchester City were in heaven.

United would have been level almost immediately through Carlos Tevez, if not for the great reflexes of Joe Hart. A sense of urgency could be seen in United’s play as they desperately looked to find an equalizer.

Just before halftime, however, things soon turned worse for the home side. On a third straight corner for the sky blues, Ronaldo’s header was cleared only as far as Petrov, who whipped in a curling ball which was guided into the far post by the head of Benjani Mwaruwari.

Old Trafford was in shock as Manchester City’s new recruit wheeled away in celebration of his first goal for the club. There was definitely some work to be done by United in the second half.

Sir Alex surprisingly chose not to use any of his substitutes after the interval and instead opted to stay with the same eleven. The second half began with United continuing to be frustrated by the defensive partnership of Richard Dunne and Micah Richards, who always seem to be at their best against United.

United did manage to find the back of the net after 55 minutes, but Tevez was correctly ruled offside.

With Saha still injured and Rooney suspended, Sir Alex sent on Park Ji-Sung to replace Nani and provide United with some more attacking force. Hargreaves and Carrick soon followed as O’Shea and Anderson gave way. Despite these changes, the match continued in the same fashion with United lacking their usual crisp passing as they continued to surrender possession cheaply.

A goal did finally come but by then it was simply too little, too late. Michael Carrick’s goal in injury time was not enough for United to salvage a draw.

Manchester United will be greatly disappointed with themselves for their performance—which let City perform the double on them for the first time since 1970.

Worse than letting Manchester City beat them on their own ground for the first time since 1974, however, is the fact that Arsenal now has a chance to take a five-point lead at the top of the English Premier League when they play Blackburn Rovers on Monday night.

Manchester United must now take inspiration from the Munich Air Disaster as they look to bounce back from defeat.

Fifty years ago it looked like the club would never be able to go on. But it did and so must these players, especially with an important couple of weeks ahead with the FA Cup tie at home to Arsenal and the away leg in the Champions League against Lyon.