City Impress on a Losing Day

Local derbies are never easy, particularly the Manchester derby. There is a lot at stake, emotions inevitably run high and it is especially difficult when you are the away team and the underdogs, taking on the side riding high at the top of the Premiership.

Anyone who didn’t actually see the game at Old Trafford, or saw badly edited highlights, or merely glanced at the score, might be forgiven for thinking it was a one-sided affair – but they would be wide of the mark. Despite falling behind to a typical sweeping United move which brought Wayne Rooney his 50th Premiership goal after just five minutes, City recovered well, played good attacking football and made several chances. And even the disappointment of conceding a goal on the brink of half time did not prevent them from coming back in the second half and reducing the arrears with a fine goal from Trabelsi (his first for the club) which brought hope of an equaliser until Ronaldo wrapped things up late on.

Stuart Pearce can be proud of his team’s performance, because they will play worse than this and win. But he will be less than pleased with the foolish way in which Corradi got himself sent off by Graham Poll for a deliberate dive.