It's not often I'd do a blog about one game in particular. But then again, it's not often we absolutely smash United at Old Trafford.
I had the pleasure of bumping into an old friend of mine on Thursday night in Revolution. His validity of supporting Manchester United cannot be questioned either; he was born and raised in Bedfordshire, he has been to Old Trafford about once and he had no interest in them until he thought it wise to invest in a 04-05 shirt due to a change in social identity. You see, this is Manchester United's biggest quality; no matter what personality traits you may or may not have, you can always be accepted by others if you have that red devil on your shirt. It takes some kids longer than others to realise that the easiest way of avoiding being a social outcast is to ask your parents to part ways with their money and get you an official shirt if you were lucky, or just a unofficial bit of merchandise if you were not so lucky (think pencil cases, lunch boxes, socks, slippers). Anyway, the friend in question said, "you lot are gonna get fucked up on Sunday."
Obviously, not all United fans are like this. Some can actually tick both boxes; first being: Match going, second being: from Manchester. But I am yet to meet many of these in my 24 years. And actually, some of them aren't all arrogant arseholes; however these people I speak of are probably only like this towards me because they have seen me go week in, week out with City from the low points, to the very low points, and somewhere deep inside of them, they are quite pleased that their old friend Liam is actually experiencing a bit of happiness. They might not, but I'd like to think they are.
What all of these sorts can do though is become very distant at the drop of a hat. Texts messages unreplied to, phone calls dodged, tweets ignored. It's strange; it's almost as if they absolutely adore to give it out, but when it comes to the other way round, they go into exile. I was first to call my close United friends after their much celebrated 4-3 victory over us (all of a sudden, that seems like a very, very long time ago), and I thought they might follow the lead of their normally never gracious manager and hold their hands up and say it how it was, to face the music as they say, but alas, it's still very quiet.
Sunday 23rd October 2011.
I woke up in Felix Good's bed to the noise of mine or his (we have the same phone - *benders alert*) Nokia alarm going off. I normally wake up on derby day feeling sick, but this being the 4th one of this calender year, I felt relaxed. I almost felt confident. The 2-1 win at Old Trafford will always be a day that will be in my memory, and I will always remember exactly what I wore that day. Just a few days earlier I spotted my Stone Island jumper I'd bought on my 19th birthday and remembered the best time I'd worn it; that sunny winters morning in 2008. It was paired that day with a G-Star jacket I hadn't worn in awhile, so I dug that out and thought I'd try it again. Three of us, quickly becoming four as we got on the tram from Abraham Moss (whoever he is) were in town for 9ish. We got to the Waldorf where we were greeted by many familiar friendly faces, and yes after missing two games I did get the "thought you weren't coming any more" jibes. Quickly, I thought I'd put some classics on the jukebox, so I put a £2 coin in and selected some Mancunian anthems and other songs I thought would be a good way of getting into the mood. By the time the first song had finished the landlord had informed me that he wanted all the blues upstairs. So any reds who came in at about 9:30, I hope you think I have a good taste in music.
We stayed upstairs in the Waldorf for about two and a half hours. First we had a cooked breakfast brought out to us, before a lot of drinking begun. I was completely out of the loop (still am) as to how this happened, but we had some people from EuroSport come up and speak to Felix and Dante about the derby, and we did a bit of singing as well. After that, the songs really picked up and it was rocking in the upstairs for over an hour. It was quite busy as well, everyone seeming quite confident about our chances at Old Trafford.
At midday we moved on, so we could get down to the ground. After much deliberation, we decided on getting the tram their, but one of our lot got a warning from the police inside Piccadilly, so six of us held back so we could get two taxis up together. Didn't exactly work like that, but after a bit of verbals from what can only be described as grandads in cheap jackets, we got in the ground. In fact, some Irish lads asked me some questions about the match on their camera phone before I got in. They were about 17-18, and just looking to have a bit of fun, so what I said to them was probably a bit out of line. Oh well.
The concourse (which has got to be some sort of fire hazard?! Even Notts County had more space between the stairs and back wall!) was rocking. Got a picture with Mike Joyce which was top. Saw loads of people actually, as United away can sometimes become a fixture for part timers to get tickets, it seemed like virtually all the loyal home and away crowd had got tickets. And then with about 10 minutes before kick off we went upto our seats.
I've read a lot from United fans that apparently they "dominated" the first twenty minutes. Funny that, I didn't feel under pressure whatsoever, and actually if you ever watch City, you'll know that we always start a little bit slowly and let the opposition get into the game? No? Ok, well I suppose Villa should feel like they deserved a point last week too. And Spurs, you know that game when we battered them? Well we didn't score til about the 35th minute, so maybe they should feel like they were worthy of getting something from the game. No, winning a few corners and shooting directly at Joe Hart is "dominating". The only time I thought "we got away with that" was when Wig Rooney pulled it back to John 'I never touched her' Evans, but on this day, young, inexperienced John, 23 (146 senior appearances) seemed to have a big part of his foot missing.
Well anyway, if they "dominated" it or not, they were still 1-0 after Mario had cooly slotted the ball past The Gay. After this sparkler of a finish, crackers Mario revealed a shirt to say, "Why always me?" It's never a damp squib when old Marios around. Sorry, I'll stop the awful puns. Apart from previously mentioned air shot from Evans, there wasn't a lot else to say about the first half. At half time a lot of people seemed pleased, but still concerned about United's ability to turn it around. It's all in the mind really, but after seeing them do it so many times before you can't help but think it. I'd go as far as saying a lot of people were confident of us seeing it off too, apart from Andrew Green who was actually shaking as the second half begun.
Within a few minutes of the restart, Evans again was in the thick of it. Showing the control of a 19 year old at a Christmas party, he man handled Balotelli to the floor and got himself sent off. Someone, somewhere will be saying he shouldn't have gone for it, but they are deluded; clearly a goal scoring opportunity and he was lucky if anything that it wasn't a yard in front. So now United had 10 men, would we really see City going for it? The press and United fans alike all wriggled round in happiness when United beat Arsenal 8-2 saying things like, "they smelt blood and went for the kill". Well after a very 'United' win against Villareal on Tuesday night, Manchester's own went in for the kill. The second and third goals were similar in many ways as Balotelli and Aguero didn't have a lot to do apart from be there to tap in, but the build up to both goals were fantastic. The movement and skill of both Milner and Silva for the second was mouthwatering and the possession and fantastic flick from Balotelli for the third were sublime. City weren't just winning, we were making United look very average. Poor, actually, we were making United look poor.
Could have got a few more over the next 15-20 minutes but a few opportunities were missed. They really thought they could get back into it, and bringing on Hernandez showed their intent. It's strange, really. Last season the golden boot was shared by Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov. Both now fourth in the pecking order for their clubs. After a bit of possession from United, Fletcher scored a very good goal. How he must wish Scholes was lining up next to him instead of the lesbian from Shameless. I won't lie; for about 4 minutes I actually felt a little bit tense. I thought we might completely throw it away...
It was with great delight that I saw that wonderful creature Rio Ferdinand give us a corner when under virtually no pressure from a United goal kick. Next to me, Andy gives it, "Why are we taking this fucking corner?! Keep it in the corner!" And after a header at the near post from Gareth Barry, the ball floats to the back post. The future of English football in Smalling and Jones are left flat footed, the greatest central defender in the world Ferdinand is motionless as Lescott (who is also a English centre half but won't get a look in next summer because of the previous three mentioned) is quick to latch on to the header and pass it back onto Edin Dzekos knee. We have our three goal lead back. We know we've got the three points.
At this point I just hoped we didn't give them another goal, it was important for our goal difference that we... oh and whats this, Dzeko has given the ball to Silva, he's clean through. 1,2. 1,2,3. 1,2,3,4. 5-1! I've gone home and away with City for a long time now, but I have to say that the celebration for this goal is the wildest I've ever seen. Absolute chaos. It was the moment it dawned on us - we are watching something special here. This is not only a day where City are the kings of Manchester, but every football fan in the world can now see that it is all coming together nicely.
Oh and then Silva takes a touch and sends what has to be the ball of the season through to Dzeko to run onto. You know the rest. SIX fucking ONE. 6-1. City, Manchester City have gone to the 'Theatre of Dreams', that place where United haven't lost for 18 months, that place where we have won once since 1974, that place where they have won every game for the past 12 months and not only won; we have beaten them by five goals. We have scored six goals at their ground.
I remember scoring 6 goals at home to Portsmouth in 2008 and feeling like this was the start of the revolution. Well, wherever Ched Evans and Gelson Fernandes are now, I'm sure they must have enjoyed that too. But back to the point; this was United, you know; 19 times league winners, won more World Cups than England and we'd gone to their ground and took the piss. And more importantly - this isn't some small matter of local rivalry, this isn't just bragging rights, this was City going 5 points clear at the top of the league and add to that we've added significantly to our goal difference and put theirs down a lot.
But to get away from the giddyness of it all; does this mean that there is a so-called "shift in power"? No, it doesn't. There's still a very long way to go. We're only nine games in, but it's looking very, very healthy at this point. No league was ever won nine games in. United will need to respond to it sharply with their tricky away game to Everton next weekend. And on the same day Chelsea lost away to QPR which put them six points behind us. But both of them will still be strong come May. But for now I will sit back and enjoy the moment, because let's face it, how many times are we going to experience it? Winning the FA Cup back in May was fantastic, but ever since the takeover we knew a day like that would come. Never, ever in my wildest dreams did I think we would go there and do that.
We've got some big games coming thick and fast at the moment, two against Wolves, away to Villareal next week before another away game to QPR. It's a shame that there is only going to be just over two days where you can say, "you're only as good as you're last game".
The week leading up to the derby began with Noel Gallagher releasing his solo album, and ended with tickets for The Stone Roses reunion gigs selling out quickly. So I'll leave you with one of my favourite lyrics from my favourite Mancunian band:
"The futures mine and it's no disgrace, because in the end the past means nothing"
Hope you've enjoyed reading.
Liam.
