Manchester City Draw Manchester Derby

Ok, first things first, Chelsea won and we're still top of the table baby! If you are a Chelsea fan, chances are you haven't stopped smiling this season. We are still unbeaten in the league (God, be praised!) and I hope this phenomenal run of the Blues continues. It was all about two shades of  Blue this week, Chelsea blue and light Blue, hoping for a Manchester City win in the Manchester Derby. The Manchester derby this season had been one of the most eagerly anticipated matches and always seemed like it would be a thrilling game. People couldn't help talking about it from the moment Carlos Tevez had signed on the dotted line for Manchester City till Sunday Kick Off and it looks like they will never stop talking about it. It truly was one of the most thrilling and unforgettable of derby matches. Manchester United came in all guns blazing and were one goal up in the first 5 mins of the game. I thought, that was the end and that Manchester City were going to retreat and it would turn out to be one of those humiliating nights for 'the Citizens' who had dared to question Manchester United 's superiority in Manchester. I was forgetting that they had Carlos Tevez, who looked absolutely thrilled to be back and eager to remind his former club exactly what they had foolishly let go. He had said before the match, in an interview that according to him Ben Foster, was the weakest link in United's team and he proved he was right by poaching the football off of the United keeper for Barry to score the equalizer. City almost took the lead, after Tevez's shot had hit the post and flew out. It was a good pass from Kolo Toure and really should have been converted. It definitely announced to the hosts that City weren't going to go down without a fight, they were there to win. Both teams were a goal apiece at half-time but  Fletcher changed all that with his header off Ryan Giggs curved pass, giving United the lead in the second half. United were in it to win too. This is when I think, the true desire of a team really starts to show, when they are losing 2-1, 50 minutes into the game against a team like United. They either retreat and somewhere give up often beating themselves in their head or they attack and they push harder and try and get that equalizing goal. So, I felt this was the time to truly judge how far Manchester City had come as a team. They did me proud when Bellamy scored a scorcher of a goal and City were back in the game. Manchester United were amazingly good in the second half and that made Bellamy's equalizer even more admirable. Neither team was settling for a draw, it was really 'Game on' after this point and Shay Given, once again proved why he is considered among the best goal keepers in  the league by saving 3 almost unstoppable Berbatov shots. At one point, I thought Berbatov gave Given the 'What you got against me?' look. It just wasn't to be Berbatov's day, as Fletcher, once again scored a goal off of Ryan Giggs pass. Everyone now seemed to believe that Manchester United were going to win after all -everyone, that is except the Manchester City players. Rio Ferdinand, was definitely of the lot that thought  that the game was in the bag and allowed himself to be lazy. Craig Bellamy made him pay. At 90 minutes the game was tied at 3-3, which seemed like the most fair result for a very well played match by both teams. Manchester City had shown everyone, that they were title contenders and you had to  beat them to win. They weren't going to let big names and club histories and brilliant managers scare them. They were there to play and to win. Sir Alex, decided on an added-time substitution brought Michael Owen on. I love Michael Owen and think he is an incredible footballer and really do wish this hard-on-luck player to do well and score loads of goals. This was till he joined United and I no longer wish him to 'score loads of goals'. Now, anyone who had seen the game, would bet good money that no more than a couple of minutes would be added on. The game was played in very good spirit with no bad challenges and hardly any yellow cards. The referee, however held up 4 minutes which was puzzling.

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This however, was just the beginning of the entire jigsaw puzzle which was on its way. The game finally went on into the 97th minute. For a minute I thought maybe the referee had passed out from all the excitement. According to Martin Atkinson the referee, he had added 1 minuted into the added time because of the Owen substitution and 45 seconds (which should actually have been no more than 26 seconds) because Bellamy's celebration had been too long - something that anyone who has seen the match and is not a United fan or Sir Alex will disagree with. So that makes it 5 minutes 35 seconds. The game went into the 97th minutes plus and the winning goal from Michael Owen came in the 96th minute, a full 5 minutes 26 seconds into the 4 minutes added time. Manchester City haven't got the 1 point that rightfully was theirs but they have come out winners.They should write-off the one point as a friendly gift to an annoying neighbour. The good news for United fans is that Fergie's Mythical Magic Watch is alive and ticking. Moral of the story for anyone playing Manchester United and leading or drawing the match, is to remember that  the added time at Old Trafford is always 'as long as it takes.' According to me, Manchester City drew the match they were playing against Manchester United and lost to Sir Alex's Watch.

Manchester United vs Barcelona

After the first leg, with Manchester United playing a professional but somewhat boring match from the point of view of a person looking forward to watching probably the best attacking clubs going head to head, I couldn't wait for tonight's match. I was finally going to see all the fireworks. With the first leg of the Champions League Semi-final ending in a goalless draw, Manchester United had to score goals playing at home. On the other hand, the Barcelona after having kept a clean sheet and not allowing Manchester United to score the all important away goal, now needed to score an away goal themselves. So, this match promised to be a cliffhanger.
Making the fixture even more intriguing were the facts that Manchester United and Barcelona were the only unbeaten clubs left in the Champions League and that Manchester United and Barcelona had both kept clean sheets in their last 4 matches.
Two giants of the footballing world playing to be in the final of the most prestigious club competition in Europe. PFA Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo and energy unleashed Carlos Tevez versus World Player of the Year runner up Lionel Messi and the superb Samuel Eto'o.

It was a must win game for the domestically out of form Barcelona, if they didn't want their season to end. It was a must win game for Manchester United having lost to AC Milan in the Semi-finals last season and especially for Cristiano Ronaldo as he had missed a crucial penalty in the first leg of the fixture. He surely didn't want this black mark on his otherwise marvelous season.
The buildup to the match began at 11:30 pm (my time in India) and somehow whenever that Champions League programming jingle plays, it makes you feel like you are at the right place at the right time. I surely was at the right place in front of the telly! Old Trafford was packed to maximum capacity and 'believe' was the Old Trafford faithfuls message to their team. The scenes of so many people urging their team on were simply breathtaking.

The team was lead out by Rio Ferdinand as Ryan Giggs was on the bench and Puyol who was suspended in the first leg of the fixture returned to lead Barcelona into this crucial match. The referee blew his whistle and the game got underway. In the opening seconds of the game, Manchester United conceded a free kick just outside the box but Lionel Messi was unable to make the most of it. The first 13 minutes of the game Barcelona looked really comfortable, dominated possession and Messi was as threatening as ever while Manchester United looked out of sorts. I immediately felt that we probably needed Rooney, who was not playing tonight as he hadn't recovered from the hip injury he picked up in the Chelsea game.

In the 14th minute, Gianluca Zambrotta one of the most experienced players in the Barcelona back line tackled Cristiano Ronaldo but ended up passing the ball to Paul Scholes who about 30 yards from goal unleashed a thunderous shot swerving high and wide of Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdez, giving United the lead. It's wonderful how things work out in football so it made perfect sense that the goal should come from the veteran midfielder who had been injured and had to miss the 1999 final at Nou Camp against the German club Bayern Munich. Earlier in the week, Sir Alex had said that if Manchester United were to play in the finals of the Champions League this season Paul Scholes would be the first name he'd put on the team sheet. Almost like he knew something!

Five minutes later Messi embarked on his trademark run from deep, going past Scholes and Brown and drawing Edwin Van Der Sar into a fine save from the edge of the area.

A confident Manchester United started to dictate the pace of the game and Ronaldo caused quite few problems along with Park Ji Sung for the Barcelona defence. A few more chances were created by Barcelona who looked comfortable coming forward through Deco and Eto'o but they failed to get the goal.

In the second half, play continued to fluctuate from end to end though Manchester United looked the more likely of the two to score. Portuguese winger Nani had a few great chances to put United 2 goals ahead of the Catalan Giants but failed to capitalise on it.

Barcelona substituted Andres Iniesta with former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry around the hour mark. Henry, Deco and Messi had a few shots on goal but failed to find the elusive goal which would take their team through to the finals.

Barcelona especially Argentine Winger Lionel Messi played some outstanding attacking football but were denied time and again by the brilliant defending from United back line. There were 5 minutes of injury time added on and the 1-0 scoreline ensured that I couldn't breathe!
Watch out Liverpool or Chelsea because every time Manchester United have reached the final of the Champions league, they have won and I am sure Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs would love to bring the trophy back to Old Trafford once again before they retire.

So finally, the referee blew his whistle and Manchester United created history by making sure that it would be the first all-English Champions League Final in Moscow. What a fantastic day for English football and English football fans the world over.