The noisy neighbours

He's not wearing red anymore

The Manchester divide has never been so electrifying before. Manchester derbies were not considered to be life-threatening to United despite the long rivalry against their sky blue neigbours. Not this time though. The rejuvenation and cash flow brought about by the sheikhs had assembled a squad that proved to be (on paper at the very least) challenging United for the three points even at the heart of Old Trafford itself.

The very central focus of the rivalry this time involves a certain acidic Argentinian who is smack right at the pinnacle of the brawl. After Adebayor's celebration and stamping antiques, there are many who wondered if Tevez will succumb to similar emotional outburst considering that just a couple of months ago, he was wearing the red shirt. Carlitos is also definitely wrong if he thinks that his return to Old Trafford will be greeted happily by the United faithful. The response that he gets when he got out of the tunnel shows that his days as red favourite is gone. Man City itself is team Judas. We have Adebayor, Toure, Barry, Lescott, and Tevez. They were the fan's favourite in their previous teams and they could just simply turn their back on them with the green bill.

Rooney was quick to seize the initiative by bulldozing through City's defence and forcing the goal past Given. That was just within 2 minutes into the game and Tevez and his new friends already had their hands full. It didn't take them long to equalize because of the clumsiness and idiocy of Foster and Ferdinand. At the 16th minute or so, lazy Rio allowed the ball to drift it to Foster, thinking that his goalie will collect it. Instead of clearing the ball with one swipe, Foster was dallying by attempting to collect it with his hands. Tevez was just lurking behind waiting to pounce on Foster's slowness and when he sensed blood, he rushed to snatch the ball off Foster's control. Tevez grabbed the ball off Foster's butter fingers with his legs and Barry was there to slam the ball into an empty net. Pure stupidity. Foster already had one warning after 75 seconds on the Tevez charge. What were both Ferdinand and Foster were thinking? As usual, lazy Rio's mind is offline and off concentration at the worst possible moment. Both the teams left the first half with one goal a piece.

United started the second half strongly too with a quick goal of merely 2 minutes after it had started. Giggs waltzed through the defences before crossing it into the box for Fletcher to meet it with his head and Barry stood no chance against him with the jump. Sheer joy for the Scot as he celebrates it with the fans. United were taking the lead again but the celebration was shortlived. The United defence had apparently forgotten about the capabilities of Craig Bellamy during his Liverpudian days and did not take the appropriate steps to close him down. Bellamy burst forward from the left wing and smashed it diagonally beyond Foster's reach.

That was not the end of the story. Fletch the brave was at it yet again as he headed another one in to put United up at the lead for the 3rd time! It was hoped that United will retain the lead for good this time but another atrocious idiotic blunder from lazy Rio cost United as Bellamy went on to score City's 3rd time equalizing goal. Eccentric Rio tried to be clever as he chip the ball, but only for him to lose possession to City. All his teammates' efforts are down the drain and maybe he should not have turned up for work at all. It looked to be all over with both halves of Manchester sharing the spoils of the game. The initial extra time that was given was 4 minutes but apparently, the referee refused to blow the whistle and this stretched on to an extra 2 minutes or so to the 96th minute. At the last dying seconds or so, Owen pops out of nowhere and finishes off the winning goal to the ecstasy of the Old Trafford crowd. It's controversial but Owen doesn't care and so does Man Utd. Mark Hughes is fuming but credit to him for not over-reacting like Wenger. It's literally kill steal. This is up for debate whether it is proper for the extra minutes to be added and this look set to continue to divide Manchester. The actual goal time was around 95.22 and United fans would argue to justify the extra time in pointing that the celebrations coupled with the free kicks would allow at least 1.5 minutes more to be added. It also looks like the FA is doing any inquiries about the extended time although City is protesting. While everyone is busy commenting about the extra time, a bigger injustice was found at the Chelsea v Spurs match where Tottenham were denied a clear case of penalty.

This Manchester derby game is truly one of those which can be declared as game of games. It has all the elements of football - fortune, unluckiness, brilliant finishing, idiots, disastrous defending, skills and controversies. Berbatov had plenty of chances but for some funny reason or so, he can't finish them off. Sluggish and hunchbacked, the Old Trafford crowd will slowly lose patience on him if this continues on. Giggs showed his evergreen self once again as he waltzes in and out of the City defence like he's 25. His crosses and set-pieces were perfectly executed with beautiful curls and he had a part to play in assisting 3 of the goals. That's real class, something that cannot be emulated. Fletcher was the unsung hero too in inflicting two goals against City. His hardoworking attitude and combative style ensures that United control the midfield well. Bellamy is probably high on the list of United's public enemy no.1 and the United fans will have no love for this former Liverpudian and City player. Interestingly, the Scot scored 2 for his Scottish boss while the Welsh scored two for his Welsh boss. Rio Ferdinand will have to ask himself whether he had too much bling bling the night before for his absent-mindedness. I think Foster will probably see his United career flushed down after this match. Everyone will remember Massimo Taibi. Nobody gets away with blunders like this unless you're Peter Schmeichel. Owen's winning goal at Old Trafford will be fondly remembered for years to come. This was exactly the super sub quality that many fans had waited for years.

Fergie would very much be delighted with this win. Perhaps it's time for the noisy neigbours to keep their mouth shut. =p