Manchester United’s win at the Etihad was a great advert for football, but not everything was as the neutral should have liked, including Manchester City’s multi-million pound attack.
The Manchester derby was as dramatic as ever but there were plenty of incidents during the match that we did not want to see.
Fan on the Pitch
Credit to Joe Hart for stopping an idiotic Manchester City fan from confronting Rio Ferdinand just after Robin Van Persie had scored the winning goal. Hart intervened just as it seemed the fan was about to square up to Ferdinand. This is something that could have ended disastrously and no one wants to see this at football matches.
Coins
There were numerous examples of coins being thrown at Manchester United players yesterday. One coin hit Rio Ferdinand just above the eye causing a bad cut but there were also coins, and other objects, thrown at Wayne Rooney after he scored Manchester United’s first and second goal in the derby game. Rooney also had to draw the referee’s attention to the fact things were being thrown at him before taking a corner.
Racism
Reports have emerged that a fan was arrested during the derby for being involved in and encouraging racist chanting. The debate over racism in football rolls on but this proves little ground is being made and hopefully Manchester City will follow the example of West Ham and ban that fan for life once the police have finished with him.
Manchester City’s Attack
We didn’t want to see Manchester City’s attack continue to fire blanks. Mario Balotelli was quickly taken off in the second half after a back heel at a tense time during the game. Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko all failed to bag a goal with the scoring efforts for City coming from Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta.
Manchester United’s Defence
For a change it wasn’t United going behind early on but the defence still looked vulnerable and allowed City back into the match. The first goal United conceded was comical as David De Gea was forced to pull off a brilliant double save before Toure eventually slotted the ball home. The United defence almost stood and watched in slow motion.
image: © dullhunk
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
