Best Manchester Derby Ever: Where to start?

Craig Bellamy scored twice. Craig Bellamy punched a United supporter. Darren Fletcher, a "utility player" scored twice. Michael Owen poked home the winner in the ninety-what!? minute.

Before the Manchester derby this sunday, the headlines were all "Adebayor banned," and "Teves returns to Old Trafford." Afterwards, there are headlines galore: see above. Last week, Adebayor's name was on the tip of every Manchester tongue. In the furor that has surrounded Sunday's explosive encounter, the Adebayor controversy has slipped our minds.

And for good reason - what seventy thousand people inside Old Trafford witnessed live on Sunday was an early, and extremely strong, candidate for Match of the Season. The most highly anticipated derby for decades could not have been any better, or full of talking points.

In the brief space I am afforded, I will try and cover the main ones, as well as attempt to keep my preference for a particular triple champion in the background.

Well, what better way to do that then say what only the most diehard City supporters, and Mark Hughes, would disagree with: Manchester United were the better side, by a mile. Manchester City have a ways to come.

In the first half, United supporters were sweating as City showed glimpses of a team on equal footing with their cross town rival. But United, as they've been known to do once or twice before, turned the screw in the second half, playing attractive, fast, and overpowering football. The three goals they scored in the second half were inevitable. Of course, they had the bonus of being beautifully timed, but the way United were playing, the game only ever had one outcome.

United proved they are still capable of the spectacular, even without the departed Cristiano Ronaldo. That football was so good, Ronaldo, whom I will not mention again, was simply not necessary.

Before the game, Sir Alex Ferguson likened the noveau riche City to "noisy neighbors." Now they must be quiet.

Bellamy's equalizers were stunning, a mark of the class Craig Bellamy possesses when he plays football and doesn't speak. But they were also, from United's perspective, very avoidable. Mark Hughes has decided to take heart from the scoreline, stating that city showed remarkable character in battling back to push United to the line. This is manager-speak. The only thing City showed is that they have a dislikeable striker capable of scoring when gifted with the opportunities. 4-1 was a far more appropriate scoreling: aside from Bellamy's two lovely breaks forward, City were played off the pitch. Those three goals were Christmas come early for City fans desperate to talk about matching United: gifts.

Craig Bellamy almost impressed me. I have always wanted to be a fan of his, but it just seems his attitude and thuggery will always keep him on the periphery of players worth cheering for. His pacey approach and ability in front of the net is consistently outweighed by his unappealing yammer and foolish behavior. Basking in the warmth of a very pleasing victory, I let my guard down, and felt sorry for Craig Bellamy. Then he punched a pitch invader.

Look at the picture of the incident. It is clear the stewards have the renegade fan under control. Perhaps Bellamy felt he needed to assist the stewards in further neutralizing the invader? What a good guy. Sympathy lost, and for Mark Hughes, there goes another striker to the FA review board.

Something is awry at Man City. Despite some great results thus far this season, Mark Hughes has already lost two players to violent outbursts. City beat Arsenal and narrowly missed out on taking a point from Old Trafford - results suggesting they are worthy of a top four place. What should be a glowing moment for City is instead overshadowed by the petulance of their stars.

Onto the game's other double goal scorer: Darren Fletcher?!? Yes, that's right, the lanky Scot has turned himself into a player capable of truly earning a spot on Manchester United's starting XI. He used to be a hard tackling, hard working utility man, but through playing with and against the best for so long, Darren Fletcher has blossomed into a fine player. He will never have the explosiveness of Rooney, the finesse of Giggs, or the vision of Scholes, but he does bring the same consistency that those three have brought throughout their careers. His selection used to make me cringe when I saw the team sheets, when he was a below-par replacement on a less than adequate United squad. But as the team grew and improved, so did he. Sir Alex gave him his chances, played him amongst quality players, and the quality rubbed off. Congratulations, and thank you, to Darren Fletcher.


Other players Sir Alex Ferguson gave a chance to? I'm almost hesitant to mention Michael Owen's contribution to Sunday's goalfest. I almost feel too smug saying that Sir Alex's genius has again prevailed, and that Owen played the part Sir Alex knew he would perfectly. And it's almost too ironic that for the 100 million euros City spent this summer, it was the cheapest man on the field who nabbed the winner. Almost. Who writes these scripts?


As for the extra time that allowed Owen to his dramatic winner, I did some math. There was a substitution of Anderson for Michael Carrick, as well as the minute long celebration of Craig Bellamy and the City players. His celebration stretched 56 seconds past the 90 minute park, and the substitution took 30 more. Four minutes were added on by the referee, plus that extra minute and a half, which all adds up to five and half minutes. Owen scored 5 minutes and 27 seconds past the 90. Cue City silence.

With United pressing for the winner late on, perhaps the official felt it inappropriate to blow the whistle in the midst of a final attack. And if Man City feel they can challenge for greater honors this season, wouldn't they feel that those extra minutes offered them equal opportunity to score a winner of their own?

Only one team wished to keep playing Sunday, and that's the mark of an experienced champion. Between the trademark late winner, the incredible performances of Ryan Giggs and Darren Fletcher, and the omnipotent power of Manchester United in the second half against a team supposedly ready to contend with them, one thing is still certain: Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson simply will not go away.