Once, twice, three times losers: City 0 – 1 United

Manchester United left it late once again to prove that they’re still the undisputed Kings of Manchester.

A Paul Scholes header with just 10 seconds left on the clock was the decisive goal that sealed the win and kept the pressure on Chelsea at the top of the league.

It was the away side that started brightly, forcing City to retreat into their own third for the opening exchanges, with City not entering United’s half until the 6th minute.

United’s pressure wasn’t paying off though, with numerous spurned chances threatening to haunt them later in the game.

City’s first and only attempt in the first half came from a Carlos Tevez free kick that the Argentine striker had dive to win. His effort was headed for the top corner, when Edwin Van der Sar expertly plucked it from the air.

When the half time whistle blew it was United who had dominated.

The second half started with almost total domination by United who didn’t allow City’s home advantage to affect their obvious superiority. Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney both missed guilt edged chances after good wing play by Antonio Valencia.

Gareth Barry attempted to win the game late on by shamefully diving inside the United area. Martin Atkinson waved away his claims and Barry was fortunate to escape a booking.

The game looked like it was heading for a draw as the final whistle approached, when up stepped Paul Scholes to win the game for the visitors. Patrice Evra‘s cross into the box was met by the unmarked midfielder who headed calmly into the bottom right hand corner past a helpless Shay given.

The final score is a lesson to City that money can’t buy you class, it can’t buy you results and it definitely can’t buy you the winning mentality that flows through Manchester United. The same mentality that enables the team to drive forward looking for a winning goal until the final whistle. The same mentality that means United have beaten their bitter rivals in the dying seconds not once, not twice, but three times this season. And the same mentality that allows United to still dominate City on their own turf even after they’ve spend a quarter of a billion on new players.

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