Well, if you've ever wanted to see United totally get their butts kicked at Old Trafford, then I hope you caught this derby today. Personally, I pretty much never pull for either of these sides, but as the match wore on, I kept pulling for City to keep pouring it on and give United a bit of their own medicine.
Things didn't start out bad for the Red Devils though. In fact they controlled the possession for a good bit of the opening half. What they weren't doing though is creating any chances. Joe Hart wasn't quite able to pull out a deck chair, as the action was in his half, but United seemed to be having trouble breaking down City's defenses. The only half chance they got came in the 17th minute, but Ashley Young saw his shot blocked.
Then City climbed into the match. Actually I'd say they put everybody on notice. In the 22nd minute James Milner sent a cross into Mario Balotelli. The somewhat troubled Italian striker slotted it past David De Gea cool as you like in the bottom corner to give City the 1-0 lead. Balotelli promptly pulled up his shirt to reveal a T Shirt that read "Why Always Me?" It was hilarious. The referee didn't fins it funny though and gave Balotelli a yellow card.
Now it was time to see if the strike would wake up the Red Devils. It didn't really. They tried, a little. Both Anderson and Rooney forced saves out of Joe Hart before half time, but neither of them were particularly difficult, at City lead 1-0 at the break.
Whatever Sir Alex said to his club during the interval was tossed out the window almost immediately in the second half. In the 47th minute Johnny Evans hauled down Mario Balotelli around the penalty arc denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. He received the red card and put United down a goal and a man. Thirteen minutes later Balotelli completed his brace, flicking home yet another beautiful ball from Milner to make it 0-2. Then in the 69th Sergio Aguero got his first derby goal off another cross to make it 0-3, and that looked to be all she wrote,
Well, not so fast. United did manage a goal here. Darren Fletcher managed to beat Joe Hart in the 81st minute to make it 1-3. Chicharito checked in and the United crowd came to life, hoping for another historic comeback.
Well it wasn't to be today. In fact, after the Fletcher goal, United fell completely apart. City would pour on not 1, not 2, but three goals in the remaining minutes. Dzeko scored 2 after subbing in and David Silva added one to make the final tally 1-6 in favor of City.
How historic was this? Well, It was the worst home loss for United in 80 years. It was their worst loss in the Premier League era, and was the worst loss ever for Sir Alex either as a player or manager.
Noisy Neighbors indeed.
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