Van Persie Late Strike Win The Game
In any derby games there was no love lost. And last weekend the
164th Manchester derby, played at Etihad Stadium on 9 December 2012, proved
that. Before the game the red half of Manchester was leading the league with
three points ahead of Manchester City. The Citizens who just been dumped from
European action with miserable results, needs to win in front of their home
crowd to heal the wound. It was need to win game for both, with City was more
desperate. The possible of six point lead by Man United was not acceptable
for the champion.
So it was no surprise at least for the first 15 minutes
Man City was much better team. They controlled the ball and the game however
creating none clear chances. However against run of play Man United scored. It
was classic Man United counter attack. From the left flank De Gea released
the ball to Evra. Man United fullback then dispatched the ball to Van Persie
who chest the ball beautifully to Young. Then the Man United winger surged
forward toward Man City goal. Rooney was there to collect Young square pass.
Despite being followed by three defenders Rooney coolly ran with ball. Suddenly
he made a relatively weak reverse shot that nicely went to back of net with Man
City keeper, John Hart rooted.
Then in the 29th minutes Rooney strike again. This
time from the right flank. After broke Man City attack, the ball fell to Rooney
who then passed the ball to Carrick. The England midfielder sent the ball wide
to Valencia. In the same time Rafael made an overlapping ran on the line.
Valencia quickly passed the ball to on the run Rafael who surged toward
unguarded space. The Brazilian then dispatched perfect ball toward Rooney.
Nobody was tracking down Rooney so he had a lot time and space to make a shot.
And this time it was more clinical finish from Rooney's right boot.
Though Man City was better team in the first half and
dominating the game, they creating no clear chances so Man United was deservedly
lead the game with 0-2.
In the second half Man United almost nailed the game when
Van Persie shot hit the bar. The rebound was quickly taken by Young who tapped
the ball into empty net. However Young goal was incorrectly ruled out for
offside. And seconds after that Yaya Toure scored. It game on. The goal surely galvanized Man City to find the equalizer. Then came the equalizer and they must thought
that they had secured a dramatic draw thanks to Pablo Zabaleta's 86th-minute
strike - but Van Persie stepped up in added time to swing in a 25-yard
free-kick that clipped Samir Nasri's outstretched leg and nestled in the far
corner to clinch all three points. Sure a heartbreak for Man City. After been
kick out from the Europe, lost to Man United was not something that Man City
wants. This was showed by the way their fans acted. Purely frustration. Still they had FA Cup and League Title to
win. But as the champion of England their Europe performance was awful.
As of 9 December 2012, there have been 164 competitive
meetings between the teams. United have won 69 and City 45, the remaining 50
games finishing as draws.
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