Manchester City 1 Manchester United 0 - Stuart Mathieson's Premier League verdict

Vincent Kompany heads in for Manchester City

Manchester United surrendered their Barclays Premier League lead after suffering a painful defeat at Manchester City.

Vincent Kompany scored a thumping header in first-half injury time to put the Blues ahead on goal difference with two games remaining.

Tensions threatened to spill over after the break with managers Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson exchanging angry words on the touchline.

Glimmer

Theonly glimmer of good news for United is that they can get back to doing what they do best in the final two matches of the campaign.

Against Swansea City and Sunderland the Reds must complete the run-in with adventure and hope Citys nerves take over again.

Thescheme designed to quell Citys midfield menace can be ditched - and good riddance.

If the champions are going to lose their trophy hopefully they will not surrender it with a whimper.

Its win or bust from now on and nobody does that better than the Reds when they need to.

Fergie went for the experienced factor big style with his team selection.

Countering Citys five-men strategy in the engine room he sacrificed in-form Mancunian Danny Welbeck and stuffed the midfield unit with a quintet who could all claim to have been there and done it.

It was a combined age of 161 years packed into the Reds key department but most significantly you thought were the 33 Premier League title medals they have displayed somewhere between them.

On top of the midfield haul there was only David de Gea and Phil Jones whod not experienced a title game close to one of this magnitude.

Uniteds title medal collection in the starting line-up a! dded up to a colossal 47. It was a glittering assembly of mementoes.

But in the end they counted for little.

The choice of Ji-sung Park was a big call from the Reds boss and to be honest in dumbfounded a lot of United fans pre-match. They didnt alter their opinions too much as the game got going.

The Korean has not played since he skippered the Reds against Athletic Bilbao in Spain over a month ago when United were outpassed by the Basques.

Hed not had a minutes senior football in the seven matches since that Euro flop.

Carrick and Giggs also started that night and the major concern, not surprisingly, was that if the Blues celebrated playmakers could match Bilbaos slick interplay then the Reds hadnt got a prayer.

Selection choice

A masterstroke or madness?

The latter was the choice as City got a foothold into this derby and in all honesty it never looked like it was going to go down as a tactical success.

Fergie could well have been looking over Roberto Di Matteos shoulder last week in Catalonia when he devised the Chelsea strategy to frustrate Lionel Messi and his Barcelona cohorts.

His scheme revolved around a blockade spread across the Camp Nou and the Reds set up was a more than passable imitation at times of the Londoners.

City did not quite camp out in front of a sea of red shirt but they were made to think deeply and ingeniously to find a way through.

With so many veterans in Uniteds key area they were asked to do a lot of leg work to contain Mancinis unit and Park looked like his one simple instruction was to be a bluebottle to Yaya Toures flypaper.

The difference between United and Chelsea in Spain was that the Blues had a set piece idea up their sleeve unlike Pep Guardiola.

Once Kompany was allowed a relatively free header by Chris Smalling and David de Gea was trapped on his line ! by Tevez ,City went ahead anda rapid rethink had to be devised.

The original design goes out of the window if you cannot defend corner kicks.

The question was did Fergie and his backroom staff have a Plan B?

How long was containment going to be persevered with when the United support at the Etihad were desperate for cavalier and for Rooney to have some company?

It wasnt long into the second half before Plan A was abandoned and Parks incomplete job in this battle was over.

Welbeck was thrust into the action after ten minutes and United had more of a United look about them.

The Reds did engage City more in forward positions with Welbeck around but it was nowhere near enough to ruffle Citys preening feathers.

Joe Hart still didnt need to dirty his gloves at all during the evening and they certainly wont be in the Etihad laundry room after the game.

How many City goalkeepers have been able to say that after a Manchester derby?

Unlike Chelseas Champions League plot United, on the night, didnt have a piece of Ramires genius or a Fernando Torres breakaway to to snatch the point that would have swung the title pendulum back Old Traffords way.

What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.

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