For reasons best known to themselves, a significant portion of the press chose to use the run-up to this game reporting stories of disharmony, “strained relations” and unrest between Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex. Both before and after games, both parties were at pains to deny any such thing was going on. Rooney himself said that he was still very happy at United and “wants to stay here for years to come”.

I don’t know if there’s any truth in the reports but a day like today shows that, if the press would just be a little patient, there’s absolutely no need whatsoever to report “non stories” because just a few hours on this day provided enough meat to fill the back pages for weeks to come – and, whilst some of it was even more unbelievable than the Rooney story, it was all absolutely true.

Around an hour before kick-off, there was the amazing news that Paul Scholes had answered the SOS call and, not only had he come out of retirement, he was going to be on the bench against City!

At first, I had to check the calendar to make sure that I hadn’t spent a few months in a coma or something and that it wasn’t actually April 1st but when the team sheet was announced, there he was – named as a substitute. Incredible!

That, in itself, can give the press stories to tell for the rest of the season.

And then the actual game began and it was to prove to have talking points aplenty – more than enough to keep idle journalists in articles for the next week and beyond.

First of all, it’s worth mentioning our line-up for this one. Lindegaard was given the nod ahead of De Gea in goal, Jones was switched to right-back, Evra on the left with Rio and Smalling making the central partnership. There was some doubt over Smalling’s fitness coming into the game but he came through the test with flying colours and I believe that the future of one of our central defensive positions could well be sorted for the next ten years.

I felt that Jones might have been used in midfield but Fergie chose to play him at right-back. I think that the Newcastle game exposed his deficiencies in central defence so I was just pleased to not see him played there against the trickier City players such as Silva and Aguero.

Fergie went with a four-man midfield of Nani, Carrick, Giggs and Valencia and I was just pleased to see Valencia on the right. Whilst it has been a case of “needs must”, Valencia is totally wasted in the right-back position. He has been superb on the right wing whenever utilised there this season and this game was no different and it was his run and excellent cross that led to our first goal.

Up front, Fergie went with Rooney and Welbeck. I’m afraid that I completely over-looked Welbeck in my pre-match article and I went with Hernandez but the Rooney/Welbeck partnership is actually probably our best at the moment. Hernandez may well be the best poacher we have at the club but there are areas he could improve on – namely his first touch and ball control but these are two things that Danny Welbeck has no issues with and he was able to demonstrate this to great effect on numerous occasions this afternoon.

Oh, and he can score, too. I was raving about Demba Ba’s goal against us in midweek but Welbeck’s goal here this afternoon was similar in some respects but, technically, it was probably even better as the ball was going away from goal (and Welbeck) but he showed tremendous technique and agility to put it away.

Anyway. The match itself started with City having plenty of the ball and put us under some pressure in the opening exchanges and in some ways, it was similar to the game we played against them at Old Trafford but in reverse. In that game, we were pretty dominant for the opening twenty minutes and City’s first goal came largely against the run of play. On this occasion, it was perhaps our goal that was against the run of play as Rooney headed brilliantly from Valencia’s cross to put us 1-0 ahead after just ten minutes to stun the home crowd.

Just a couple of minutes later, City were in turmoil as Kompany was shown a red card for a two footed challenge on Nani.

At first, I thought it was extremely harsh and, in some ways, I was disappointed because I would have preferred to have beaten City with eleven men – City down to ten men with eighty minutes still to play provided City with every excuse they would have needed no matter what score this one had ended. However, after seeing several replays, the red card was deserved. Kompany went in two footed with studs up. It was reckless, it was dangerous and, had Nani not been able to take evasive action, he would undoubtedly have had to leave the field with a nasty injury.

Basically, players know that this type of tackle is no longer allowed and so why such an excellent player as Kompany chose to attempt it is quite baffling.

At this point, we had City where we wanted them and drove home our advantage thanks largely to great work from Welbeck with his goal that I’ve already mentioned and a run he made into the box which drew another foul and a penalty. Rooney took the penalty but, whilst it was saved, Rooney nodded home the rebound to make it 3-0 with five minutes of the first half remaining.

At this point, the United support were chanting “we want seven!” and it really didn’t seem beyond us at that point. City were like a boxer who has been hit and whose legs have gone. As the boxer tries to hold on desperately until the bell, City seemed to want to hold on for the half-time whistle.

When it arrived, most people were wondering what the hell would happen in the second half. Would City come out fighting or would they accept that today wasn’t to be their day and go for damage limitation.

A couple of substitutes from Mancini during the break suggested the latter to me as he brought off Johnson (who had been giving Evra a pretty torrid time on our left flank) and Silva (who remains one of their most potent attacking forces) in exchange for Zabaleta and Savic.

Now, I don’t presume to know what Fergie said at half-time to our own players but, no matter who or where we are playing, we should not be throwing a 3-0 half-time lead away and so I guess that part of the message was that whilst we could still get more goals from the game, the highest priority, especially for the opening five or ten minutes of the second half, had to be to give nothing away. Give City no encouragement. Keep the ball. Pass the ball.

So, when Nani tried some kind of stupid back-heeled flick after just a couple of minutes of the restart which was easily intercepted by Richards who drove towards our box, putting Evra under such pressure that he eventually conceded a free-kick just outside the area, Fergie must have been livid.

Up stepped the lethal set-piece specialist Kolorov to unleash an excellent free-kick to make it 3-1 with just three minutes played of the second half.

Again, I don’t presume to know Fergie’s thoughts but the fact that Nani was subbed within ten minutes of this came as no surprise (although the reason could just have been that Nani had picked up a silly yellow card by this stage and with the referee – Chris Foy – having his usual game i.e. poor and baffling, it might have just been a decision made to protect Nani from picking up a second yellow).

The substitution resulted in a sight no Manchester United supporter ever thought they would see again as Paul Scholes trotted onto the  pitch.

The substitution was probably made with thoughts of retaining possession in mind and, for the most part, Scholes’ passing was of the highest quality (97% pass completion ratio, apparently) but, incredibly, it was a bad pass by Scholes which led to City’s second goal.

As Aguero slotted home their second on the rebound after Lindegaard had spilled his initial shot, all eyes went to the clock which confirmed that the score was indeed 3-2 and that there was still the best part of half an hour still to be played.

Whatever advantage we had enjoyed going into the half-time break had now been completely reversed. The momentum was now with City and I must admit that I felt it inevitable that they would score the equaliser.

However, it never came, despite us enduring some extremely anxious moments towards the end of the game (no more so than when Kolorov had another free kick from a similar position to the one which resulted in their first goal right at the death but on this occasion, Lindegaard saved it well).

And so the final whistle blew to bring the curtain down on a fantastically entertaining Cup-tie which saw United fans, as per usual, put through the wringer when we should have been sitting with our feet up, smoking cigars for the final ten minutes.

The drama wasn’t to end there though as a few hours later, the draw for the fourth round was made and, somewhat predictably, we were drawn away against Liverpool. But that’s a story for another day… right now, I need a lie down.

Had this game taken place a couple of weeks ago then I think most United fans would have gone into it with the confidence that we could get some sort of revenge for the 6-1 drubbing but after two defeats and, worst still, two pretty abject displays in our last two games then it really is difficult to think of one good reason to believe that we can win this one.

On the other hand, there are plenty of reasons to believe that City will win.

For a start, they are arguably the best team in England at this moment. The league table backs this up. The way they beat us at OT earlier in the season adds further weight to the argument.

City have turned the Etihad Stadium into the kind of fortress that teams such as ourselves at OT and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge have done in recent years. In fact, in their last twenty home league games, they have dropped just two points (Fulham, last February).

City are the defending FA Cup Champions whilst our own record in this competition in recent years has been pretty underwhelming.

Despite Mancini’s frankly laughable comments that he didn’t know if he had eighteen players available for this one (with the Toure’s going to the African Cup of Nations) he has a formidable starting eleven of fully fit players (although Barry is suspended and Yaya Toure is out so that does mess their normal midfield up rather a lot) whilst we have an injury list which, whilst improving of late, is still ridiculously long and includes at least two players who would no doubt have started in this one (Vidic and Fletcher).

So that’s the case for Manchester City in this one and I think it’s fair to say that an awful lot of boxes are ticked there. The head can only come to the conclusion that City will win this one even if the heart begs to differ.

However, I have been supporting United long enough to know that we can never be written off. Some of our best ever results have come out of the blue (no pun intended). Indeed, there may even be the possibility of some degree of complacency on the City part that we can take advantage of but perhaps that would be grasping at straws.

There is also a possibility that we may view the FA Cup differently this season. In recent seasons, I have had the feeling that Fergie hasn’t treated the competition very seriously – of course he would like to win it and sends out a team he believes is capable of winning the match but it seems to be a case of either win the game or lose the game… but don’t draw the game because a draw means a replay and another fixture to contend with as we attempt to compete for the bigger prizes such as the Premier League and the Champions League.

This season, we don’t have the Champions League to worry about. Yes, we have the Europa League and I don’t know what Sir Alex’s private thoughts are on that tournament but, speaking as a fan, I think I would rather see us lift the FA Cup than the Europa League trophy. It could well be the case that a draw in this fixture so that we can get City back to an OT replay would not be seen as such a bad thing.

What I would like to see in this game more than anything is all the players being played in their “proper” positions. Due to injuries, Fergie has tried with mixed success to put square pegs into round holes in several games recently but I would like to see something along the lines of the following (if Smalling is fit):-

Lindegaard, Rafael, Smalling, Rio, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Jones, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez in the kind of 4-5-1/4-4-2 type formation which has served us well.

Jones in midfield might be slightly iffy but I’m convinced that he is better/safer there than in central defence at the moment – he had a nightmare in there against Newcastle the other night and had some kind of hand in all three of their goals.

If Smalling doesn’t make it back then it could well be that Fergie goes with Anderson in midfield and brings Jones back into the centre of defence and, if that is the case, then I think we could have trouble and if Fergie goes with De Gea ahead of Lindegaard then City will simply bombard us with crosses all afternoon long. Neither De Gea nor Jones seem particularly good at dealing with crosses (and this is where we miss Vidic massively).

Anyway. What’s going to happen here today? I think the answer has to be: “anything could happen”. I doubt very much that we’ll be seeing another 6-1 scoreline or anything even close and some of the bookies actually seem to think that we’ll have a fairly low-scoring game. I suppose it’s possible that it will be cagey but I’ve got a feeling that there’ll be more fireworks here today.

May the… erm… “best” team win!

The bet is going to be a tentative 2 points on OVER 2.5 goals @ 1.92 with Bet365.

It does seem that since City took top spot in the league it seems that we have, more often than not, had to play our games after theirs and so have always been playing “catch-up” – I don’t know if this actually is the case or whether I am just imagining it – but it does seem this way.

However, there was a bit of a turnaround this weekend as we got our match out of the way on Saturday to reduce the deficit to two points whilst City had to sit around for two whole days awaiting their crunch match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

So, I had to watch the match last night, just to see how Manchester City coped with leading from the front in a tricky fixture against a top side which had begun to rediscover form.

And I must admit that it seemed like Manchester City were coping very well – they were 1-0 up with less than two minutes played and really should have put the game to bed within the opening twenty minutes or so – it really could and probably should have been 3-0.

However for the next seventy minutes or so, I became a honorary Chelsea fan for the evening and, whilst this sounds strange to admit, I actually punched the air when Meireles knocked in the equaliser just before half-time. Chelsea had turned the tide and City seemed to be losing the plot a bit.

The second half was almost exclusively Chelsea’s as City dropped deep and, to me, seemed more interested in maintaining their unbeaten record than actually winning the game and by the time Lampard converted his penalty kick to put Chelsea 2-1 ahead, City were in some disarray and had been down to ten men following Clichy’s sending off just before the hour mark.

At this point, I actually thought that they were destined to end the game with just nine men. Clattenburg had been producing the cards like Dynamo the magician on speed for much of the game and several City players were sailing close to the wind.

But it all ended 2-1 to Chelsea which was as good a result for us as it was for Chelsea and we now find ourselves in a position where we can actually take top spot if we can beat QPR on Sunday (which won’t be an easy task, let me add) before City take on Arsenal at the Etihad a couple of hours later.

It’s a peculiar state of affairs because we have been grinding out the results of late and generally seeming to be struggling whilst City have been blowing everyone away and it is amazing that we are still within touching distance. However, the destiny of the title is back in our own hands as we come to this crucial Christmas period where fixtures come thick and fast and generally in the type of playing conditions that some City players might not fancy too much.

Fergie said last week that he’d be happy if we’re there or thereabouts on New Years Day and at this stage, I’d wager that he’s going to get his wish.

It’s taken me a few days to get around to writing this review for obvious reasons because I do always like to watch at least one replay of the matches before writing the reviews but I wasn’t in such a great rush to watch this one over again.

However, I watched the match over and it wasn’t actually the painful experience I’d expected. For the opening 10-20 minutes, it was all Manchester United and we had City penned into their own half for much of it with something in the region of 70% possession.

When Ballotelli put City ahead after 22 minutes it was a complete stunner because, up until that point, they’d hardly had the ball.

It must be said though that whilst we had a lot of the ball, we didn’t do an awful lot with it. City were very organised defensively and throughout the match, Joe Hart had very little to do – and this was our main problem in the first half.

However, 1-0 down at half-time was gutting but there was absolutely nothing to suggest the massacre that was to follow and I think most United fans, whilst knowing that the next goal would be crucial, had confidence that we could turn things round.

Whatever Fergie said to the players at half-time was obviously brief and to the point as the players were back out on the pitch and ready to go several minutes before the second half was ready to commence.

But within about a minute of the restart, Evans made a mistake against Ballotelli and tugged at his arm in an attempt to salvage the situation, the referee copped him and had no choice but to send him off for preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. Whatever plans Fergie had put in place for the second half were destroyed right there in one moment of madness. It was always going to be a uphill task in the second half but that just made it almost impossible.

It has to be said though that for ten minutes or so, we continued to give as good as we got and had Ashley Young not fluffed a great opportunity when he received the ball in the box and scored then we still might have seen a different outcome here because that could have made it 1-1 and perhaps at that stage we could have played a much more defensive game and settled for the point.

It did sort of show that we still weren’t out of the game though and the players tried to do the only thing they knew they could do and get that goal back as soon as possible. This obviously meant that we were vulnerable at the back and with a man short, City were able to exploit the wide open spaces and this ultimately led to our downfall as City have such great passers of the ball that they were able to do so quite easily.

It does show the fine margins between success and enormous failure at this level though. We needed that little bit of luck or that little bit of magic to make it 1-1 but instead we got hit by a sucker punch as Ballotelli got his second on the hour mark to make it 2-0.

At this stage, the game was pretty much up but with half an hour to go there was still plenty of football to be played and so the United players once again tried to do what comes naturally and attack. Ten minutes later, Aguero got City’s third and then it really was game over.

In hindsight, what the players did next was either the craziest of the most courageous thing ever seen but they kept ploughing forward leaving enormous holes at the back but they wanted the goal, they still believed that they could pull this off and when Fletcher curled in a beauty (the best goal of the game, to be honest – unfortunately quantity, not quality always counts in this game) to make it 3-1 with at least ten minutes still to play.

In hindsight, this was perhaps the worst thing that could have happened because it suddenly seemed to make the players think, “Hang on, if can grab one more in the next few minutes then City’s heads might be all over the place for the last few minutes – we can still do this!” and so they went for it.

We had a couple of corners in the next few minutes which City defended well but it did show that again, with a decent delivery and a bit of luck, there was still a goal to be had for us and the players just went for it with everything they had. All the defenders were coming forward and players like Welbeck ended up chasing back doing the jobs of players like Evra! It was just kami-kaze football.

However, I feel that I must take issue with something Fergie said after the match about this stage of the game as he seemed to be suggesting that when it was 3-1/4-1, we should have just accepted that and just defended in order to avoid what ended up a rout.

I can possibly understand it once it went to 4-1 but at 3-1, there definitely was a whiff of a comeback – it was a faint scent; mere tendrils on the horizon  but it was there and I, for one, want to see my United team never accept defeat when we need two goals in ten minutes although I will accept that with hindsight, once City went 4-1 ahead, the chance had gone and with just injury time to be played, we should have just kept the ball and played down the clock.

Instead, we continued to try to fight, like a boxer who has been knocked to the canvas four times in a round but keeps getting up on wobbly legs, swinging away feebly only to walk onto yet another right hook.

So, yes, this could and probably should have ended in a 4-1 defeat and not 6-1 but, the record books aside, does it really matter? Fergie made a point about the damage this result did to our goal difference column (ten goals in one match is a devastating blow) but, at this stage, the five points behind is the crucial part. I do tend to agree though that the players should have shut up shop at 4-1 and they probably should have known that.

However, I can also understand how the players would perhaps not know what to do. Do they make the decision to do that, at Old Trafford, against our fierce local rivals by themselves? Why wasn’t Fergie or at least Phelan down on the touchline at this stage, just telling them, “It’s ok lads. Give this one up. Just don’t let them make this completely embarrassing now”? At least the players would have known that they had the manager’s blessing to give up the ghost.

I dunno. I just thought it strange that whilst Mancini was always making his way down to the touchline at various stages to bark out a few instructions, our own management team stayed in their seats throughout. Fergie just seemed a bit too eager to shift the blame onto the players but I think that in hindsight, he must see that he shares some responsibility for the end result.

Anyway, the day definitely belonged to City but I would reiterate that it wasn’t the one-sided massacre that the end scoreline suggests. The first half was definitely an even contest but City always just looked that bit more in control. Defensively they were solid and organised and they contained us to the point where we were restricted to half chances at best. They also worked extremely hard down the wings to nullify Young and Nani and little David Silva was awesome. Their strikers were obviously on the money too.

For us, our defence looked extremely creaky as it has done for much of the season and I still cannot understand why Evans started ahead of Vidic and I can only think that Fergie felt that Vidic was still short of match-fitness. This is probably a moot point though because I have no doubt that Vidic would have pulled on someone’s arm at some stage and got himself sent off just as Evans did!

I said in a recent post that I think Fergie has to come to some sort of decision with the defence and soon because all this swapping and changing is not doing anyone any favours. Ferdinand still brings a lot to the table but he clearly cannot do it in every game these days which means that Fergie has to make at least one change every other game or so but he will know as well as anybody that our success down the years has been built on a stable defensive unit that pretty much play together week in and week out where changes are enforced due to injuries and suspensions – not merely to “keep players happy/match fit” etc.

With this week’s opponents being Manchester City, it completes something of a “full set” for Manchester United in that we have now faced all five of the teams that finished in last season’s top six – that this has happened after just nine games shows just what a tough start we have had.

We’ve been a little fortunate in that most of these games have been at home with only last weekend’s trip to Anfield not following suit. However, as we have picked up ten points from the four games so far then that is probably as good a return from a tough set of fixtures than we have any right to ask for.

However, us greedy United fans will be demanding another three this afternoon – luckily, our players are even greedier than we are and there can be no doubt that they will be demanding it of themselves.

I’m not entirely sure what the situation is now but after around five games, we were apparently on our best ever start to a league campaign under Sir Alex but I would have thought that twenty points from our opening eight games must still be one of our best ever starts too – which only goes to show how well City have started with twenty-two from a possible twenty-four.

I do feel that someone’s “o” will go today though. A draw cannot be ruled out and it may well be that both teams would accept a point if offered to them now but something big is there for the taking should either team be brave enough to go for it.

I feel that whilst City have enjoyed a great start, their toughest opponent so far in the Premier League has been Tottenham and there was no great surprise about any of their other victories. What has been interesting, however, has been their Champions League campaign. Now, our own CL campaign hasn’t exactly been devastatingly impressive but there has been an element of complacency about our campaign. Manchester City have no such excuses – they have been drawn in a tough group and they have generally struggled to show anything like their Premier League form so far and they were given an absolute lesson when they met Bayern Munich – a team that is perhaps on a similar level to ourselves.

All things considered, I believe that we have to go into this game with confidence. Old Trafford is a fortress and we are currently on a winning run there that stretches back to when West Brom held us to a 2-2 draw around this time last year – twenty games ago.

I also believe that as good as Manchester City’s squad is, there are actually very few of their players who I would swap with our own. Off the top of my head, I think we could possibly find a place for Kompany, Silva and Aguero but beyond that, I’m not too sure.

As for a team selection prediction this afternoon well… this has been very difficult so far this season and Fergie has seemingly taken an almost perverse delight in putting out teams that leave most onlookers completely bewildered but I do believe that we’ll see something a little more predictable today.

Recent swaps and changes in the defence appear to have been made with this game in mind and it does look like the Vidic/Ferdinand partnership could finally be ready to resume duties in the centre with Evra on the left and De Gea in goal.

The right-back position remains hard to predict and it could be that we see Smalling out there again today although Jones is obviously an option but a lot depends on the guess about the Rio/Vida thing being correct.

The midfield has to have Young and Nani on the wings for me but the centre is a little harder to guess at but I will have a stab at Anderson and Fletcher.

Rooney and Hernandez up front again unless Fergie goes with a five man midfield in which case I’d go for Park somewhere in the middle and Rooney alone upfront.

As for a prediction on the result, well this is a tough one and one that really shouldn’t be touched in terms of betting but there should be goals in this game and perhaps even a fair few bookings if things get a little heated down there but, given the price on offer then I think a straight punt on United to win is decent enough value.

The bet is 2 points United to Win @ 2.25 with William Hill.

Well… what can I say? This was quite possibly one of the best football matches I’ve seen at Wembley for many a year. It was obviously given added spice because it was between ourselves and City but, a bit of handbags here and there aside, it was played in very good spirit with both teams playing hard but fair. I thought the referee, Phil Dowd, had a great game (some City fans might disagree with this assessment, though!)

I had fears beforehand that it was going to be a cagey affair with neither team wanting to lose more than either team would want to actually try to win but my fears went out of the window within a few minutes of this game starting as United, in particular, seemed to be going for the throat from the off.

Fergie stayed true to the kind of team he had played throughout our pre-season Tour and gave the likes of De Gea, Smalling (at right back!), Anderson and Welbeck their chance alongside the more expected Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Nani, Young, Carrick and Rooney and it was working a treat. City were largely on the back-foot for much of the opening half hour or so. The pitch seemed to be in great condition and with just a little bit of rain, there was that zip about it which helped us to play our quick, one and two touch passing game which left City chasing shadows.

However, we hadn’t made our dominance count with a goal or two and City started to get themselves back into the game after around twenty-five minutes or so and piled on a bit of pressure of their own but it was more of a 50/50 match by this point as we continued to press ourselves whenever the opportunity arose.

A foul given away by Evra in a decent position for Silva to deliver a lovely free-kick from out wide after 38 minutes which was met by the head of Lescott for 1-0 to City felt like a kick in the teeth though. Evra comitted another dodgy foul on Milner just outside the area moments later but this time, it fortunately came to nothing.

As a result of this little sequence we got to see one of De Gea’s strong points as he delivered a fantastic ball the lengths of the field straight from a corner which almost set Nani free on the counter. I’m in no doubt whatsoever that this is going to be a weapon we see used time and time again during the coming seasons.

However, just before half-time we got to see something which I hope we’ll never see again from De Gea as Dzeko let fly with something of a speculative effort from 25-30 yards out which went past De Gea despite being a good five feet inside the post. Vidic was partly to blame as he didn’t get anywhere near close enough to Dzeko but he seemed confident that De Gea would deal with the shot. Indeed, no matter how many times I watch the shot, I still cannot understand how it managed to evade our young new keeper. It was a well-struck shot, low and with plenty of power but the feeling was that De Gea saw it coming and had enough time to get something behind the ball but, no. And that meant that it was 2-0 to City at half-time.

This seemed quite undeserved and, I must admit, I thought we’d have to do something very special to even take the match to penalties at this stage. Fergie’s half-time subs were a slight surprise though as he took off almost all the older, more experienced players (Vidic, Ferdinand, Carrick) and replaced them with Jones, Evans and Cleverley.

United started the second half in exactly the same way that they had started the first one, though and if anything, they looked to be playing at an even higher tempo. City had the 2-0 lead to defend though and so seemed content to allow United possession for the opening few minutes while they just got bodies behind the ball.

We were going for it at this stage though with Smalling frequently raiding down the right, Evra down the left and even Jones was to be seen in an advanced position from time to time. The forward players Nani, Young, Welbeck, Rooney and Cleverley were passing it around well between them though with plenty of good movement providing more than enough to keep City occupied.

After 51 minutes, United were awarded a free kick from a similar position (although on the opposite side) as City’s free kick in the first half and the outcome was very similar as Young fizzed a great ball in which Smalling met with his boot to guide the ball past Hart in the City net.

That goal seemed to come at just the right time for United and we were right back into the match with plenty of time to grab the equaliser. We didn’t have to wait long though as Nani found the back of the net after 57 minutes following one of the best examples of passing and movement to weave through the City defence you will ever see.

Nani picked the ball up deep in his own half, passed to Cleverley and went sprinting upfield. Cleverley laid it off to Anderson who played it onto Rooney who ran on with the ball before passing back to Cleverley who took it on a little bit before knocking it into Welbeck who played a fancy back-heeled pass to Rooney who played to Nani who played to Rooney who flicked to Cleverley who played back into Nani who had run on following his pass. Nani calmly took the ball around Hart and chipped it over him from a fairly acute angle.

It was absolutely breathtaking stuff from United. We’ve seen it a couple of times during pre-season but that was against, with all due respect, teams that don’t possess the quality of player that City have. It was the kind of goal that United fans will never tire of watching and it will likely bring a smile to our faces every time we see it repeated on TV for the rest of our lives. It was a goal which should have won something special but, as it was, it had merely brought us level in the Community Shield. With half an hour still to play, there was still more work to be done.

United had the bit between their teeth now though and looked well up for the task of completing the turnaround. Some of the City players looked like they wished there was another half-time break coming up as they looked bewildered and, in some cases, rather knackered, to be quite honest. Almost as if to rub salt in their wounds, Fergie took this opportunity to withdraw Evra and replace him with yet more youthful exuberance in the form of Rafael. I’m not quite sure off the top of my head what the average age of the United team was at this stage but I’d have a guess at something in the region of 22-23 but, ironically, it was Young at 26 who was the “old-man” out there at 26 years of age!

Anyway, for much of the last half hour, United continued to press and City had their moments but neither keeper was unduly troubled and penalties looked to be on the cards and with a couple of minutes remaining, Berbatov came on for the excellent but visibly tiring Welbeck.

Something was to happen that was even more dramatic than penalty, though – and something infinitely more satisfying than winning on penalties as City mounted one last attack which almost saw Dzeko get his head on a cross but it instead fell to Rooney who just thumped the ball clear upfield. It landed somewhere between Kompany and Clichy but neither took responsibility but Nani was perfectly willing to do so – chasing down the “lost cause”, he got a bit of luck with the ricochet which left him clear through on goal with just the keeper to beat. Kompany tried to get back at him but Nani took it around Hart and slotted into the net.

After the best part of 93 minutes played, it was testimony to Nani’s fitness, despite the fact that the season hasn’t really even started yet and he deservedly received Man of the Match for his two-goal performance.

There were great performances all over the pitch though. Welbeck looks twice the player he was a few seasons ago. Cleverley is giving himself every chance of making the breakthrough. Smalling just gets better and better every time he plays. Young seems to have quickly found his feet and looks every bit a United player. Jones looks mature beyond his years and will surely be a fixture in United’s defence for years to come. Rooney looks back to his very best which, if you consider that we were almost carrying him for the first few months of last season, can only bode well. Anderson looks like the player who first arrived here again. And then there’s Nani who finally seems to see himself as a true United player – it was quite funny at one stage to see him giving Smalling a little round of applause following a run and pass which Smalling played – it’s like Nani now sees himself as one of the “old heads” around the place whose role is to help and encourage the young kids who might be feeling the strain.

There have been seasons in the past where we haven’t started particularly well but, given the fixtures we have at the start of this season, Fergie has clearly recognised the need to get off to a flyer and have everyone absolutely fully fit and raring to go from the off. If this match is anything to go by, we’re more than ready to defend our title.

United will be hoping to continue their fine pre-season form with a win against City this afternoon in the Community Shield whilst United fans will just be hoping that we actually turn up and play this time, unlike the last time we met at Wembley in last season’s FA Cup Semi-Final.

Guessing either team for this one is a tough task and it will be interesting to see if Fergie retains the confidence in the younger players that he showed in our USA Tour matches. I would guess that one of either Smalling or Jones might line up with Vidic in central defence but we might just see a more experienced line-up this afternoon.

My own guess is De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Giggs, Young, Rooney and Berbatov.

It’s obviously far too early to make confident predictions as to what will happen here and I intend to just watch and enjoy the game without putting too much emphasis on the result.

However, I think  a small bet on a low scoring affair might be in order.

The bet is 2 points Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.70 with Bet365.

I’m already getting tired and a little bit conscious of the number of times I have used the words “massive game” of late but there’s no doubting that this is indeed another massive game for both teams.

For City, this is their first trip to Wembley since 1981 when they were beaten in the final of this competition and for us it perhaps represents the biggest obstacle in our way to another Double this season because make no mistake about it, whatever happens in the Bolton/Stoke semi, the winner of this game will be installed as pretty strong odds-on favourites to win the Cup.

As far as the teams go, both managers have almost a fully-fit squad to choose from with one obvious omission each. City will have to do without Carlos Tevez which is a devastating blow for them because not only is he their captain and leading goalscorer but he’s also the only one in the City camp who actually knows his way to Wembley.

For us, Rooney is the big miss as he completes his two-match suspension for swearing the other week.

However, I do believe that we will miss Rooney less than City will Tevez. Tevez is by far and away City’s leading scorer and has scored more goals than Ballotelli and Dzeko combined – the two players who look likely to be vying for Tevez’ place in this game.

Hernandez and Berbatov will be chomping at the bit to start in this one and both have been in great scoring form this season.

I’ve been giving this one a great deal of though over the last couple of days and every time I come up with an argument that says City will win, I come up with an even stronger argument that says we will win.

I do believe that we are now playing as well as we have done all season and actually seem to be getting better as the season draws to a close and the silverware becomes that little bit more tangible. City are still playing in fits and bursts – especially when asked to play away from the Eastlands.

We’ve been to Wembley countless times (we’ve already been once this season in the Community Shield) and have experienced far more semis and finals than City. Of the two sides, United should feel far more at home and at ease with the pressure of the situation.

Fergie’s record in domestic semi-finals is almost impeccable and I believe that he has led us to victory in nine of the ten he has contested. Mancini is still finding his feet in English football.

There is still something very unconvincing about the mentality of City’s players and their ability to cope with the expectation that is now heaped upon them. It was similar last season as we knocked them out of the Carling Cup semi-final after they had put themselves in a great position to get to their first final in the best part of thirty years. Then, of course, when they came up against Spurs to pretty much decide the fourth Champions League place, they blew that.

This season they blew the Europa League despite being fairly strong favourites before they went out and a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in their last game has allowed Spurs back into the fourth place race again.

Of course, one of these days, they are going to overcome their stage fright and leave me with egg on my face but until they make that breakthrough, I’m happy to oppose them every step of the way.

On top of all of this, I just think we’re a better team than City and we’re more than capable of winning this without having to rely on City “losing it” and given the price on offer, I think a straight bet on the United win is enough here.

The bet is 3 points on United to win @ 2.15 with Victor Chandler.

Unless they’re actually going to the match today, residents of Manchester would be well advised to stay indoors and catch up on those little jobs that may have been piling up for the last couple of months because I have a feeling this is going to be a feisty encounter on and off the pitch.

Manchester City’s Premier League campaign has hit the skids a little in recent games, with them having won just two of the last five and whilst they are still in contention to a certain extent, you get the feeling that anything less than a win here today will probably put an end to any realistic chance they have of claiming the title.

The slight problem I have is believing that Mancini will send his players out to be positive enough to actually win the game. Most fans will remember the game at the Eastlands back in November which ended 0-0 – largely because City simply wouldn’t commit to winning the game. If they were so negative towards the start of the season on their home ground, I fail to see why they will suddenly go for it at this nitty gritty stage of the season, away from home.

Our own title challenge suffered a slight setback last weekend, of course, when we finally lost a Premier League match and that makes a win for us here all the more important as it would seem highly likely that Arsenal will win their match at home against Wolves later this afternoon and if things go against us, we could find our lead cut to just one point from Arsenal and just two points from City by the end of the day.

The good news is that whilst City’s away record overall has been one of the best in the league, they have dropped a few points on their travels in recent games and our own home record remains almost impeccable.

The most worrying news coming from OT at the moment is that Rio Ferdinand looks certain to miss the game due to an injury and Chris Smalling is likely to get the nod to partner Vidic in the centre of defence. This is one hell of a game for the rookie to be thrown into and I suspect we’re going to learn a lot about the lad in this game. So far, he’s looked pretty unflappable but he’ll be given a stern test whoever City decide to play up-front.

As for a prediction, well, this is a tricky one. Several of the games between these two sides have been low scoring games of late but last season’s ridiculous 4-3 win for United keeps gnawing away at my thoughts. However, that game was somewhat freakish and I do suspect that another tight game is on the cards as neither team can afford to lose this game.

But the bet is going to be on the corner market and I’ll go 2 points OVER 10 corners @ 2.05 with Victor Chandler.

Manchester derbies have always been an eagerly anticipated game but for much of the last twenty years or so, City have generally come into the games hoping to get one over on United (and have done exactly that several times) but United have tended to be the overwhelming favourites to win.

Times they are a-changing though at Manchester City and a new owner, new managers and lots of new players every transfer window for the last couple of years have seen City become serious contenders for the title and whilst they still have to prove themselves consistently against the more established top-end Premier League teams, they certainly have the squad necessary to compete these days – it is just getting it all to work out there on the pitch that is sometimes proving to be a problem for City and a couple of League defeats (against Arsenal and Wolves) plus a Europa League deafeat to Lech Poznan in recent games haven’t helped their cause and Manager Mancini is already reportedly under some pressure to save his job – whether all the players are 100% behind him to keep his job is another matter…

As for United, our biggest opponent in recent weeks has been some kind of nasty virus which has ripped through side squad and caused several to miss training and matches recently. One or two are still injury doubts and Rooney is, of course, still away in America apparently kicking balls into an empty net as part of his “reconditioning” work.

For all the hype surrounding these games, they tend to be low scoring affairs when we play at the Eastlands – the last four League games have all finished 1-0 (three for United, one for City) and last season in the Carling Cup, City won 2-1.

I fancy tonight’s game will be something similar but it is difficult to call which way it will go. A win for City will put them right back in the mix for the League title but a defeat will put them in a very weak position as far as the League goes. It could well be that the game ends in a 1-1 draw.

Probably one to watch and enjoy rather than get involved too heavily with from a betting perspective but I’m going to have a small bet on the Under market.

The bet will be 2 points Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.8 with Stan James.