Match Report - Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City

Competition: Premier League
Kick-Off & Date: 1:30pm, Sunday, 23rd October 2011
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester (Home)
Attendance: 75,487


Manchester United suffered their heaviest loss at Old Trafford since 1955, equalling their largest Premier League defeat, as Manchester City won 6-1 in cringe-worthy fashion. United gave up hope in the final stages, conceding 3 goals beyond the 89th minute. Darren Fletcher's consolation was forgotten, after Jonny Evans was sent-off to help Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and David Silva score, routing Manchester's bigger club...

David De Gea started in goal. Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans were paired in defence, leaving Nemanja Vidic out of the squad, while Chris Smalling and Patrice Evra acted as fullbacks. Darren Fletcher was back in midfield, along with Oliveira Anderson. Luis Nani was placed on wing duty, as was Ashley Young, supporting Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck in attack. It looked a formidable starting XI, and nothing was expected to go wrong...

And although The Red Devils came out of the traps by far the better of the two sides, Manchester City started to come back into the match. But United kept their 'noisy neighbours' at bay, with Nani and Young providing for Rooney ahead of the pack. The home side failed to create any goalscoring opportunities, and on 22 minutes Mario Balotelli fired past De Gea against the run of play thanks to work from David Silva and James Milner. 

United responded after their initial shell-shock, with Young, Nani, Rooney and Anderson all testing Joe Hart, but with no success. City had their own chances, through Balotelli and Yaya Toure. But the best chance of the half other than the earlier goal fell to Evans, who unfortunately miscued his effort from about 5 yards out. The Reds ended the first period on top, but were left frustrated heading down the tunnels at half-time, still 1-0 behind. 

Minutes after the second half kick-off, referee Mark Clattenburg made a major decision that would go on to decide the match. Evans tangled with Balotelli inches outside the penalty area, and the City forward fell down as if he had been shot. But it was clear Jonny had tugged 'Super Mario's' shirt, and the official punished the offence to the harshest extend - sending the Northern Ireland International off. United players and supporters were stunned.

It was always going to be a tough task beating in-form City, an even harder task to beat them one goal behind and the hardest of tasks having them beaten with 10 men. The Blues took advantage of United's lesser numbers, after the home team 'had a go' at City's defence. Silva, Milner and Balotelli again combined to score for the away side, this time on the hour mark with United boasting a backline of just three players. Things went from bad to worse. 

Sir Alex Ferguson stayed static in his seat in the dugout at The Theatre Of Dreams, but got to his feet when his men were made look like boys as Sergio Aguero rounded-off a Micah Richards move on 69 minutes. Man City were now 3-0 ahead, and United needed to reply - quickly. Indeed, three goals behind is something that has happened before to the Premier League Champions, but in most cases we launch a mesmeric comeback.

It looked as if United were about to do just that when Fletcher scored a sublime goal from substitute Javier Hernandez' pass, with Hart beaten at his top left corner. The Reds were temporarily lifted by the score, but City exploited their rivals' new found optimism to deadly proportions. Phil Jones and Chicharito had been introduced on 66 minutes, with Fletcher scoring on 81 minutes. But Edin Dzeko put victory in the bag for MCFC on 89 minutes. 

A farce of a defensive display was compounded by Ferdinand's disastrous back-pass to De Gea, which went out for a City corner. From that, Joleon Lescott flicked Gareth Barry's poor header back to Dzeko, who tucked the ball away to score what was though to be the final goal of the game. And boy was the conclusion wrong, with David Silva and Edin Dzeko scoring in the 91st and 93rd to utterly embarrass Manchester United at their sacred home-ground.  

There was no doubt that Dzeko was offside, but no-one at Old Trafford other than De Gea seemed to care. City had won the game one way or another, and The Reds were hoping for the full-time whistle to ring around as soon as possible. Stoppage time was far too long, as David Silva - thanks to Edin Dzeko, and Edin Dzeko again - thanks to David Silva himself, both scored respectively in the 1st and 3rd minute of the 90. Disgraceful. 

Contrary to popular belief, supporting Manchester United can occasionally be stressful. 


United Team: David De Gea, Chris Smalling, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra, Oliveira Anderson (Phil Jones '66), Ashley Young, Luis Nani (Javier Hernandez '66), Darren Fletcher, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck.

Goals: Fletcher '81
Bookings: Anderson '62, Evra '67, Smalling '79, Welbeck '83
Sent-Off: Evans '47

• Video Highlights: United 1-6 Manchester City