Pride. For 20 years, pride has been the motivation for Manchester City to beat their bitterest rivals, United. An opportunity for one day of elation to escape the nightmare of relegations, revolving door policies, and boardroom incompetency. Tomorrow, however, the Reds’ visit to Eastlands has an added dimension- a significance beyond bragging rights, because the reward for victory over two legs in this Carling Cup Semi-Final is a trip to Wembley. Losing to City on any occasion hurts for United- watching City march on to a first final in 29 years as a consequence is unthinkable.
Alex Ferguson’s side come into the tie on the back of a humiliating home defeat to League One’s Leeds United and a home Premier League victory over Burnley. Whilst occasionally showing glimpses of class, their form throughout this campaign has been a level below normal expectations. A Christmas stuffing at the hands of Fulham was preceded by defeats to Burnley at Turf Moor, Chelsea, and old rivals Liverpool, who can’t buy a win at the moment- and their blushes were spared only by injury time goals at home to Sunderland and City, in the first of four derbies this season in September. With Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville reaching the finish line, Cristiano Ronaldo sold to Réal Madrid, Carlos Tevez snubbing the offer of a permanent contract to join bitter, hopeless, insignificant City and crippling, spiralling debts consuming time and energy at boardroom level, one might suggest this is more than just a lapse we’re seeing.
All the while, City’s stylish new manager Roberto Mancini had settled seemingly seamlessly into life in English football with four wins and only one goal conceded from meetings with Stoke, Wolves, Middlesbrough and Blackburn to make it five wins on the bounce after Mark Hughes’ final game, a 4-3 thriller against Sunderland. A 2-0 defeat to a resurgent Everton, though, has injected a small dose of reality at Eastlands. Nonetheless, at the halfway point it’s only three defeats in all competitions for City, and with only goal difference separating them from Spurs in 4th place, confidence, while flattened temporarily by events at Goodison Park, should still be high. Turning draws, of which there have been eight so far, into wins will perhaps be the biggest challenge for Mancini and his coaching team.
And whatever the circumstances of Hughes’ departure, an emphatic win tomorrow night will surely endear the Italian to the as yet unconverted- the City faithful crave nothing more than a long overdue trip to Wembley.
The Carling Cup- Story so far
City: It has been a relatively straightforward route to the Semi-Final for the Blues with the 2nd Round tie against a depleted Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park ending 2-0 to set up a home meeting with an under strength Fulham side, who were preoccupied with the Europa League. It wasn’t plain sailing though, with Zoltan Gera scoring a tremendous opener for the Cottagers. A Gareth Barry goal brought the sides back on level terms but it took injury time to decide the outcome- Kolo Touré eventually rose to head City into the 4th round in the 110th minute. The reward for that was a home tie with Championship strugglers Scunthorpe, who fought admirably but went down 5-1 in the end to goals from Stephen Ireland, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Michael Johnson. Arsenal were the next visitors to Eastlands for the Quarter-Final and as expected, came with a very young side including the likes of Craig Eastmond, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. Two spectacular efforts from Carlos Tevez and Shaun Wright-Phillips and a late tap-in for youngster Vladi Weiss saw City go through to this stage of the competition with relative ease.
United: Danny Welbeck scored the game’s only goal as United defeated Wolves 1-0 at Old Trafford in the 3rd round, setting up a 2-0 victory over Barnsley at Oakwell, which was overshadowed by the behaviour of a group of United fans, who turned maliciously on catering staff inside the ground and fought with police. Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen scored the goals. The Quarter-Final saw the visit of Spurs, who will have been bitterly disappointed to lose 2-0 on the night. Darron Gibson sealed the tie with a first-half brace.
Key Players
Nigel de Jong- In the two most recent derbies, United have essentially been given the freedom of the park. While City may have counter-attack with purpose in September, their presence in midfield was nonexistent with Darren Fletcher in particular left free to torment the backline. De Jong’s role tomorrow night will be crucial- break up play, pass the ball sensibly and with simplicity and nullify their forays forward. If he does this to the best of his ability, ala Chelsea in December, City will have the advantage in arguably the most important area of the field. Without his dominance, ala Everton last Saturday, we can and probably will be overrun and outgunned.
Carlos Tevez- Needless to say, the football world will be eagerly anticipating Tevez’s reunion with his former employers. The circumstances of his departure will only add to the intensity, and with 15 goals to date this season, three of those in three Carling Cup encounters, it seems a safe bet that the Argentinean will score here. A tenacious yet skilful forward, his sensational hat-trick against Blackburn last Monday will have added significantly to his case for legend status at City- a winning goal tomorrow will cement it.
Wayne Rooney- Despite United’s inconsistencies, Rooney has been in superb form this season with 16 goals and countless assists. Like Tevez, he has a doggedness and workrate complemented by extraordinary skill and vision to make him comfortably United’s most lethal weapon. The Liverpudlian has developed a habit of scoring in derbies, so messieurs Richards and Kompany will need to be at their very, very best to nullify his threat.
The Bookmakers see City as favourites for tomorrow night’s encounter for the first time in years, and despite a raft of injuries for Roberto Mancini to deal with, so do I. There is a sense of optimism and confidence around the blue side of the City which, unlike previous reigns, is backed up by endless riches, world class players and a highly successful management team. The road to the top will certainly not be plain sailing, but the tools are in place at what appears the ideal moment.
So, as a new decade begins, will the curtain be drawn on a generation of United dominance? Despite evidence to suggest so, It might just be too soon to speculate- but a home win tomorrow night would signal, surely, the re-emergence of Manchester City Football Club. And that’s what really f*cking counts.
Thanks to Colin The King of ManCityFans.Net for writing this preview.