The Derby : Did it really live up to the hype ?

Not only is it one of the oldest rivalries in association football but also one of the fiercest contested given the two clubs recent brushing with silverware. Seven of the last nine league titles have ended up in the city known as Cottonopolis. The only cotton now getting popular is from the shirts of the area’s two popular brands, City and United. It’s a footballing revolution instigated by City’s new found wealth from the Gulf mixed with the remnants of the legacy that Sir Alex Ferguson has been proudly manufactured over the last quarter century of his reign at Old Trafford.

Buildup

No irony then that a few miles from one of the world’s first industrial estate  of Trafford Park, was the venue that took centre stage in the marquee matchup  of the premiership season. Glory or not,the two clubs’ head to head games always guarantees goals , drama and controversy . Their last encounter of April 2015 in the Mancunian rain ended with a first derby win for Louis van Gaal . City had earlier won  the September encounter by a solitary goal, and have  had the recent upper hand winning six of last eight duels. 29 goals have been produced in such games . Such has been the dynamic nature of the contest that a draw hasn’t been achieved in last 12 games across all formats.

That was till Sunday. According to The Guardian’s James Richardson “It was the  worst apology since Tony Blair’s. ”  Football dreamt of quality of the premiership but it was not to be. The two teams had featured in the top 3 before the latest  round of  league matches . City had a lot of injuries and missed the services of their leading scorer, Sergio Aguero and their leading assists provider, David Silva. United had issues of a different note. Their main marksman , Wayne Rooney is under intense pressure for maintains his place in the squad after Anthony Martial’s dream start in the premiership . They also had to entail a 4,000 mile round trip to subzero Moscow mid week to play in the champions league.

The Game  

The 1st 45 minutes were forgetful .I don’t know what half Gary Neville was watching  who was full of praises . United didn’t have a shot on goal and despite dictating possession lacked any pace and penetration which has become a theme for the games where they have failed this season. Louis van Gaal made a solitary change bringing on Juan Mata for Jesse Lingard from that Moscow squad to ignite that speed but the fatigued bodies had other notions.The best chances did fell to United in the second half when Lingard volleyed the bar post and Joe Hart saved from Chris Smalling who has arguably been the hosts’ premier player of the season.

City missed their star figures badly,creativity wise .Yahya Toure ‘s and Vincent Kompany’s  impact on the game was also surprisingly minimal . Such was the quality that the highlight of the 1st half was Yahya’s aerial clash with Wayne Rooney which bloodied his head . In a game where expectations were higher than the nearby Chille Factore, the final score was as dull as the local weather . It ended goal less. Possibly a game which could have done without a man of the match which went to in the end to Morgan Schneiderlein .

Aftermath 

The draw was enough for Manchester City to take top spot from overnight leaders Arsenal . United lost a place to the ever rising West Ham team to take 4th place on goal difference. The derby left a lot to be desired for both Mancunian camps and it just depicts how stretched the depth charts will be for the team challenging to take the crown come next May. Sterner challenges lie for Manuel Pellegrini and Louis Van Gaal in the season ahead but if it’s anything like this contest, they both have their work cut out.