20th September vs City. 4-3.

Wow, wow and wow. As a lucky witness of such a beautiful game, I feel privelaged, honoured and truly blessed to have been sat inside Old Trafford on such a glorious Mancunian afternoon. This is what it's all about, and, even if we do not see something like it again all season - possible, yet (*cliche time*), at Old Trafford, anything is possible!! - this will be our 'Villa home' and Owen will surely be our Macheda.
The day for me started with me standing nervously in the East Stand, playing about on my phone and awaiting the teams to take to the field; when my periferal vision was clouded by a sea of red. No, I wasn't having a weird faint spell due to a mixture of the heat and the occasion, but this:

When I finally got what it said - 'Welcome to Manchester' with a picture of trophies we have won and how many times we had won them - goosebumps overcame me.

I remembered and properly understood the magnitude and importance of this derby, and if I was ever excited for the battle ahead before, now I couldn't f**king wait. I knew we would have 'em, because not only were we better; we were better prepared.

KEY PLAYERS:

Giggs: Quite simply the game of his (senior) life. Ran the midfield with his confident, accurate passes; culminating with surely the pass of the season for the winning goal. He also directly created three of of our four goals, and provided a further insight into Ferguson's new dimension; with Giggs in the middle, creating the throughballs to provide width and options for our wingers, as well as the front two.

Ferguson: Tactically perfect in every way. Giggs in the middle, and of course 2 inspired substitutions...

Valencia: When he came on is when we excelled and played our best, match-winning football. He collected the ball - down the right, where he kept his position brilliantly - and held it to show a mature, experienced understanding of the game. It was never a struggle for him to keep the ball, nor did he ever run into danger. As the clock ticked on and the pressure on him to provide grew, he created strong attempts and forced numerous corners. On that note, something I failed to mention when talking of Giggs's role, we were outstanding at, or City were just shit at dealing with, set-pieces all afternoon.

Owen: Instant hero, as I said, in the Macheda mould. The Villa game last season was more important in terms of the stage of the season and the torrid mini-run it took us out of, however, this is City, and St.Michael's finish - that's right, the finish of a former Liverpool player!!! - created this:


...so, his sins as a scouser will surely we be cleansed, as he will now be forever loved. Amen.

Match: 10

Atmosphere: 9 (took a good 10 minutes to pick up again after half time, but the final quarter was unbelievable)

High: So so many in a game full of them! a) Giggs, b) Tevez hitting the post and failing on his return, c) Bellamy in trouble and d) winning it in the 96th minute...from Michael f**kin Owen!

Low: Unfortunately there were definitely negatives, which I will draw on later. The mistakes leading to City's 1st and 3rd were shocking. Had we drawn at 3-3, they would have been truly horrific, but, really, no-one cares too much right now.

ALSO, once again (as I mentioned with the Arsenal game) the magnificent result cannot be left to bask alone in its glory, as we are Man United and of course we cannot possibly win fairly. Injury time bullshit, sorted NOW:

1. The Ref indicated a minimum of 4 minutes added time. So that's a minimum of 4, a maximum of 4:59.

2. Bellamy's goal was scored after the time was allocated, so that adds on a minute.

3. Owen came on in injury time, to add another 30 seconds.

4. So: 4 minutes (initial time added) + 1 (for the goal) + 30 secs (substitution) = 5:30/6 minutes. We scored on 5:20.

Player Ratings: Foster 6, O'Shea 6, Ferdinand 6 (8 minus the errors), Vidic 7, Evra 8, Park 6 (sub no.25), Anderson 7 (no.16), Fletcher 8, Giggs 9, Berbatov 7 (no.7), Rooney 7.

Subs: Valencia 7, Owen 7, Carrick 5.