6 HART: outstanding in Germany but handling not great here in opening half and second spill allowed Rooney the easiest of scoring chances which he took
6: RICHARDS: started at right back but moved inside during half time reshuffle. Did reasonably well in both positions though pace looks down on his optimum level
8 DUNNE: no calamities and tidied up well when Reds threatened to expose City down the flanks. Confidence back and remains a vital and strong part of the squad
8 KOMPANY: there is a suspicion that he is not only just the Blues best defensive midfielder at the moment but also the best defender. Was one of the few to truly shine
6 GARRIDO: United gave him a look at both their wingers as they swapped and changed and was kept too occupied defending to manage much attacking support
8 WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: came in for some hefty treatment most notably from Fletcher and Carrick but as ever just got on with his high energy game and got better as match went on
6 IRELAND: never allowed to cause the havoc he had wrought in recent games but still came close to scoring and never gave less then his level best in and out of possession
6 HAMANN: hero in Uefa Cup but despite neat passing off at the interval after the Blues failed to build any kind of engine room bridgehead in the opening forty-five minutes.
6 VASSELL: having hard time convincing the fans of his place in the side and did nothing to deflect criticism though he was up against one of the league’s best left backs
6 ROBINHO: hardly sighted in the first half as City failed to have any quality control of the ball but much brighter in the second half without reaching the heights
6 BENJANI: Vidic and Ferdinand are amongst the best there are and playing them on own is an unenviable task. Fought his corner the best he could and hit side-netting
SUBSTITUTES:
ELANO (for Hamann 46) – a real mixture. Been begging for chance and there was some nifty footwork mixed with odd bad pass that put team in trouble - 6
ZABALETA (for Vassell 46) – is a steady performer and showed it again in a committed and energetic half that gave City more threat down the right flank - 6
STURRIDGE (for Richards 76) – not enough time on the pitch or on the ball to show what he can really do - 6
NOT USED: Schmeichel, Ben Haim, Jo and Ball
BOOKED: Ireland (41) foul; Vassell (45) foul.
BATTLE OF THE BOSSES: Hughes gambled by playing his Euro heroes plus Robinho but some looked leggy, including the previously injured Brazilian, and despite the called for changes at break and sending off it never quite worked.
REFEREE: Howard Webb (Yorks) – far too many soft cards in what was a less than dirty derby - 5
ATTENDANCE: 47,320
City 0 United 1: Player ratings
November 30, 2008
Comments
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I would rate the referee with 10 if I were a City fan... gave you a great advantage by depleting our team... yeah, Webb - 10! (bunch of cheats)
Man of the match was the ref, he made me laugh
Garrido - useless - only knew how to pass the ball backwards, Elano - has forgotten how to pass and take set pieces, Benjani - has forgotten that you have to hit the net, not the side netting to get a goal!
Sometimes you have to hold your hand up and admit we were outclassed...and todays's that day.
Hart, Kompany and SWP were the 3 best today.
For those demanding Elano.....he's too similar to Robinho...has to be one or the other. I would also like too see Jo get another chance in place of Benjani who spend's most of his time being flagged offside but he is incapable of holding up the ball something we were crying out for today.
If we wish to improve as a team I have one word to use.....MOVEMENT. United's was outstanding, ours was non-existent.
How can Uniteds goal ever be his fault? It was a class reaction save which landed fortunately for Rooney. I dont see many keepers smothering shots like that. If anything Dunne should be blamed for leaving Rooney alone in the box.
Darius Vassell is without any exception pure undiluted garbage.This guy is scared of his own shadow,does absolutly nothing for the team whatsoever.I am shocked and distressed to see him in the starting line up.His inclusion is an insult to City fans everwhere,not least those who hand over hard earned money at the gate.!!If he had a shred of decency he would donate his wages to charity.
Agree that Kompany and SWP were top dogs, with the Belgian edging it for me. Shawnie gave the ball away cheaply a couple of times but his workrate, especially after the hefty knock, was outrageous. Kompany was the only player trying to pick out the through pass.
Gotta say that Ush!ted did a great job nullifying our attacks - we're great on the counter but not got the nous to unlock a drilled defence like theirs....yet.
Question for me was, why didn't we shoot from distance more? Kept trying to pick the perfect through pass on the edge of the box and it's not like the lads can't hit them from distance...
outclassed, forever in our shadow
Face it!!!
Man City = Loser!!!!!!!!
Man Utd = Champion!!!
Disagree with these rating a little. Robinho was as good as anyone on the field, so 8; Vassell; did he play ? Awful player who must not play again. He's useless. Can't score, can't control the ball and is awful at passing; essential attributes for a forward I'd say. Say goodbye in January. One out of ten.
defeat no problem but lets give them a game no fight in team .they were not much better but we are miles apart in quality easy day for them stroll in the park bring back wingers midfield not working cant string 2 wins in premiership yoyo up and down cant wait for jan window
Disappointed but we weren't played off the park in fact, the second half was the opposite even before Lady Boy's red card.
Allowed United too much room early on and didn't offer too much in attack until it was changed at half time
Elano, thank you. You just proved why you aint worth a contract at Manchester City
Actually, it was a good indication of where we need to strengthen. Creative midfield is the main worry
Strange that Dunne plays OK when Kommpany is besides him.
can we put the months forward like we put the clock forward, January
All things considered, you have to blame Mark Hughes for this defeat because he fielded the wrong side first half. Why, Oh why did he not play Zab and Elano from the off??? Vassell and Hamman are not the answer to this team and Robinho suffered has a result of his selection.
January cannot come quick enough for me my Blue comrades. I hate losing to the Rags at any time boo hoo!!
For me Dunne was not only our best defender today, although Kompany ran him close, but our best striker,
By far, in the latter case.
Apart from his 'clinical' strike cleared desperately off the line, he also went close from a corner.
btw, can anybody explain why Hart decided to stay so long upfield???
Did Hughes tell him, or did he just get another rush of 'balloons' to the head.
Special word of praise to SWP who's adapting very well to his new role.
Mrs Fullaway`s lodger,
30/11/2008 at 15:55
I'd be grateful you only lost 1 player, fair do's on the day you were the better team overall but the cynical tackling just to stop our attacking momentum was a disgrace.
CTID
Didn't have enough players playing today. Robinho an Benjani up front didn't give us anything today, so the ball kept coming back, especially in the 1st half.
2nd half we were the only team in it (even after the 1TP was sent off), but nothing up front to hold the ball up or be a target.
Still thought Webb bottled with with Fletcher - he should have gone in the 1st half.
But its been years where we have had to "fight" for the derby and try to rattle them - this time Utd had to do it to us and we were unlucky the Ref didnt penalise them more. Main thing was that they certainly paid us more respect - doesn't sound like playing us is a "nothing game" anymore.
all you blue noses blaming the ref... get a life.. be someway magnanimous.. united were playing on a different sphere.. ye were garbage..
Well played Vincent Kompany. You were a clear man of the match for us. I am now going to go off into a deep depression; I hate losing to them..hate it.
I would rate the referee with 10 if I were a City fan... gave you a great advantage by depleting our team... yeah, Webb - 10! (bunch of cheats)
Mrs Fullaway`s lodger,
30/11/2008 at 15:55
Hahaha thats a good one.
I personally thought the referee had a good game today, whilst not happy with the result.
We have to hold our hands up, today we did not deserve to win. We did have chances to draw (cleared off the line, hit the post), but cheat? Dont think so.
Whilst beating us by one goal to nil you also beat us by five bookings to 2 and one sending off. Think we all know who the cloggers are these days!
Four bookings were for players who "had a go" at probably the best player on the pitch, Shaun Wright Phillips.
Oh and the "Worlds best player". Sorry, just like Robinho and Berbatov he didnt turn up.
For his sending off I would look again at the tv coverage. His first booking was deserved, he TWICE had a go at Wright Phillips legs, fraid it was a definate booking.
The second was deliberate hand ball. Definate booking, the ref is given no option.
2 Yellows equal a red. How was that cheating?
The goal was our own doing, sometimes you just gotta chuck a leg at it, we seemed a little tired, MU passing and moving were good, but we will learn these things.
We looked good for the first 20 mins of second half, and how close was Dunne to scoring ... at the right end.
And whats with the constant pro fouls!? still they out played us ... this time!
next game please
I knew Chris Bailey was a red! How can he say the ref gave too many cards out? He didn't give enough out, and let United ref he game from the first whistle! And the plank who said the goal was not Hart's fault - it was a soft shot that my gran could have held! But when you stick with a youngster in the most important position then that will happen!
Question from earlier post - Why didn't Elano start?
After his shocking performance in the second half when all he did was give the ball away, I wouldn't play him again!
Best team won unfortunately and whilst Ronaldo's sending off made me laugh, the other bookings were all deserved and United's cynical play stopped us playing after he went off. No doubt Taggert will forget that the next time he is blasting an apponent for tackling the winker a bit too hard..
the amount of fouls and cynical hacks against swp was a discrace its just blatent cheating!
just seen the ratings for team today was vassells 6 the total for the season and as for comment about too many soft cards the scummers tried to kick us of the park swp got clobbered so often if that was the winker who was being kicked like that the press would be screaming murder and taggart would have been whingeing too hughes is a tit to be honest playing vassell ever let alone in a derby match hope vassell goes and takes hughes and benjani with him