An intriguing game at Eastlands resulting in a 2-1 lead for Manchester City leaves next week's match at Old Trafford finely balanced and one to relish.
Neither team will want to miss out on a place in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley and just as importantly, city bragging rights.
Carlos Tevez scored the vital goals (and what a penalty), Shay Given kept goal impeccably but Nigel De Jong must take credit for his protection of the back four, perhaps leaving Patrick Vieira wandering if first team football is a certainty.
United certainly started the stronger team and looked more assured on the ball and were rarely pressed. Ryan Giggs scored his first derby goal in 14 years to give United a lead after 16 minutes. It was not until a controversial penalty given by Mike Dean for a shirt pull on Craig Bellamy, which was converted by Tevez, that City came to life.
Poor defending from United gifted Tevez a second goal and Man City a lead going into the return leg at Old Trafford next week. The most worrying part of this for Sir Alex Ferguson is that United’s vulnerability in defence is a common sight this season.
United did however press for an equaliser. De Jong covered almost as much ground as Tevez and countless times closed down a determined Wayne Rooney, and along with Gareth Barry and Zabaleta kept United’s midfield in check.
Ferguson then turned to Michael Owen to try and find a vital goal. No such luck. A neat one-two with Rooney put the latter through on goal, but Given was there again, the Irishmen showing exactly why he is City’s number 1, giving a flawless performance.
This will give Mancini confidence. The task when arriving at Eastlands was to sure up the defence. Given is certainly a key foundation in this. The pairing of Lescott and Toure is yet to fulfil its potential, but the Eastlands manager can certainly have faith in De Jong protecting the defence.
De Jong does not provide creativity, but does possess the quality of reading the game well, good positional sense and has a strong work rate to complement it. Perhaps the arrival of Vieira has given him extra motivation to perform; no such luck with Robinho!
Statistics can be a useful measure of the quality of a player and in measuring a performance. De Jong can boast a ‘successful tackle’ rate of four out of four for tonight’s match, whilst also completing 27/37 passes. Good reading to match the performance.
The Dutchman arrived at Eastlands with a glowing reputation from Hamburg. Last season he was solid but not outstanding. If the feisty midfielder can continue this level of performance matched with the commitment shown he will keep his place in Mancini’s side and can secure a place in the Netherlands squad for the World Cup.
The contribution of Tevez and Given cannot be ignored. Two goals against his former club will send the City home very happy, but with the second leg only a week away, Mancini will be relying on the spine of his team to repeat the heroics of tonight to book a place in the final at Wembley.
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