English FA Premiership/Manchester City 3 Manchester Utd 1: They were serving blue ketchup in the hospitality suites. Manchester City's dislike of Manchester United is so extreme they do not even allow red company cars.
"If we win I'll jump off the roof of the stadium with a parachute," Mike Summerbee, that esteemed old Blue, promised before kick-off. "If we lose I won't bother with the parachute."
A touch melodramatic, perhaps, but everyone understood. At a press conference recently Alex Ferguson did not even seem to know where United's neighbours play. The United manager mentioned Maine Road and when he remembered they had moved to a new ground he changed it to "Eastville".
One name Ferguson won't forget for a while is referee Steve Bennett, reportedly the subject of a four-letter tunnel tirade at half-time from the Scot and allegedly told he would require an escort to get out of Eastlands.
Unless the FA are feeling distinctly more charitable than Bennett was when he dished out only the second red card of Cristiano Ronaldo's career, for his wild lunge at Andy Cole, Ferguson can expect a fairly firm tap on the shoulder.
So too can Wayne Rooney, who eye-witnesses claim left his stud marks on a dressingroom door he booted in frustration during the interval.
United officials are relaxed about Rooney's conduct, privately claiming the youngster's temper was purely a sign of frustration at a first half when everything went wrong for United.
United were forced to admit the Scot had lambasted the referee with a frank assessment of his performance.
"There was a heated exchange but the content was limited to the manager's assessment of the referee's first-half performance," said a United spokesman, who has received Ferguson's version of events. "But any talk of a threat is nonsense."
The more pressing concern among United's followers relates to the inadequacies of the team and since Saturday there have been searching questions, for example, about Ferguson's use of Mikael Silvestre and specifically his explanation behind it.
Whereas Silvestre has become a danger to his own team this season, Wes Brown has been immaculate since returning from injury. Yet Ferguson explained he had chosen Silvestre "because he's French" and could help Patrice Evra, the £5.5million signing from Monaco making his debut at left back.
Silvestre responded with a performance so inadequate he looked as though he was playing in a straitjacket. Evra's withdrawal at half-time, nursing a black eye and a bruised ego, has been the subject of intense scrutiny, but the real question was: how did Silvestre last 90 minutes?
Watching a once highly competent defender turn into a bran tub of nerves made for excruciating viewing although, in mitigation, Silvestre was confronted by two renascent forwards in Andy Cole and Darius Vassell, both of whom epitomised City's approach, as laid down by Stuart Pearce, "to win the 50-50s and do the dirty stuff better".
Ferguson was entitled to gripe about an offside in the build-up to Trevor Sinclair's opening goal but when he winds the tape back further he will also discover it stemmed from Vassell running back 30 yards to dispossess John O'Shea in midfield.
Pearce's players seemed hungrier for the ball, quicker into the tackle and more purposeful in possession.
The pity for City is the post-match controversy surrounding Ferguson and Rooney has taken the focus away from the finest result under Pearce's tenure.
Sinclair's swivel and shot was followed shortly afterwards by some Silvestre dithering allowing Vassell, with wonderful composure, to stroke the ball past Edwin van der Sar for 2-0. Rooney was booked for dissent and flicked away Gary Neville when the captain tried to calm him down.
Frustrated footballers tend to lose much of their impact and Ronaldo's red card for leaping studs up towards Cole epitomised their dishevelled performance. The irony was they actually played better with 10 men.
Ruud van Nistelrooy pulled one back with 14 minutes to go but their search for an equaliser left them exposed to the sort of four-on-two breakaway that led to Robbie Fowler's stoppage-time strike and the now familiar sight of Pearce jumping into the crowd. "I'm looking for a woman," he said, "but I keep landing on the same big old bloke."
Guardian Service
