Shaun Goater stood tall at Old Trafford this afternoon as Kevin Keegan's inspired late substitution robbed Manchester United of derby-day revenge.
Trailing to Ruud van Nistelrooy's first-half opener and with neither Robbie Fowler nor Nicolas Anelka making much of an impact, Keegan threw on Goater and Ali Benarbia for the final frenzied five minutes.
The outcome was devastating. With his first touch Benarbia delivered an astute free-kick which Shaun Wright-Phillips chipped into the box where Goater, scorer of two in City's 3-1 triumph over the same opposition in November, steered his header past Roy Carroll.
It might only have grabbed a point for their team, who still have not won on enemy territory since 1974 and could not record their first league double over United for 33 years, but their supporters celebrated as though they had won the league.
City could have had even more, Goater's injury-time effort was ruled out for handball against Anelka, who had steered his team-mate into space after Wright-Phillips' deflected shot had bounced back off the crossbar.
But parity was to be enjoyed when for 85 minutes defeat stared the visitors in the face, only for United to pay for their inability to convert a succession of chances, which meant they went into the final stages clinging to van Nistelrooy's 27th club goal of the season.
United started brightly with Roy Keane producing a performance of all-round magnificence. Today, he showed why he remains such a vital and valued member of Ferguson's side.
It was Keane who set up United's opener, sending Giggs galloping through the chasm which had opened amid the blue shirts and the Welshman had the awareness to know exactly where van Nistelrooy wanted the cross to land.
Van Nistelrooy might have netted a replica just before the half-hour when Keane sent David Beckham sprinting down the right but this time Nash managed to smother the danger.
Beckham should have been awarded a penalty before that when he was sent flying by Sommeil's ill-advised challenge. Referee Alan Wiley waved away the howls of protest from a mass of red shirts but television replays indicated the official had got it wrong.
For all their effort, City lacked a goal threat. Their new stg£20million strikeforce was largely starved of possession and the closest they came to scoring during the opening period was when Roy Carroll, continuing to deputise for the injured Fabien Barthez, fumbled a speculative Anelka effort round the post.
Fowler remained on the periphery after the break, when City at least pushed forward with greater conviction, even if the eventual outcome was less than dangerous.
Carroll did have to scuttle back to palm away a Marc-Vivien Foe effort which had looped under the bar and substitute Wright-Phillips failed to find either the target or a team-mate with a chip from the right after the United keeper had raced from his goal.
United though carried more threat. Sylvain Distin slid in to deny van Nistelrooy a scoring chance after the Dutchman had latched onto Rio Ferdinand's long ball, then Giggs was not too convincing when he lost out to Nash in a full-blooded tackle as he attempted to finish off a length-of- the-field move by latching onto Beckham's delayed through-ball.
Beckham failed with head and foot as the contest continued to be a switchback ride between home dominance and periods of City pressure.
It was then that Keegan made his fateful decision, which could have untold consequences for United's Premiership dream.