05/05/07: City 0 United 1Updated: October 3rd, 2007

So the record for the fewest home goals scored in a top-flight season, set by Arsenal in 1913, has now been broken.

We are now officially more boring than the most boring Arsenal side ever.

There’s an interesting observation by s1tym at Mancityfans that in our home games against the top four sides this season we’ve conceded two and scored once, with all the goals coming from penalties.

Maybe the suggestion by another Mancityfans poster, btajim, that we are sucking the life out of our opponents at CoMS, is close to the mark. What is certain is that we shouldn’t have to endure another season of this garbage.

Boring football with a smattering of violence. We deserve much better than that.

~ I’m surprised there’s been no debate about whether Ronaldo’s penalty should have been retaken. I always thought the penalty taker had to make one continuous forward movement, which Ronaldo clearly didn’t, but maybe that rule has been changed.

~ Pearce’s post-match interview
~ Rtfract match photos; Getty Images
~ Guardian minute-by-minute report
~ Latest Premiership table

Match stats

Do the stats for possession have any bearing on reality? The reason I ask is that Sky claimed City had 39% of the possession, Eurosport said it was 44% while the BBC inexplicably put the figure at 29%.

The stats (below) are compiled from a live commentary. More comprehensive match stats, including details of who each player passed to and who tackled whom, can be found at Eurosport.com.

Match reports

I’ve arranged the match reports in order of personal preference. If anyone saw a guy in the press box foaming at the mouth on Saturday, that was probably The People’s Paul Mccarthy, whose report is listed at the bottom.


City fans have a Ball- but it’s nothing to celebrate (Guy Hodgson)
At half-time at Wastelands (sorry, Eastlands) a tribute was paid to an elderly gentleman who had been following Manchester City home and away for 70 years. It was his last game, the announcer said, which made him one of the lucky ones.


City 0 United 1
It is difficult to assess the precise impact the absence of suspended midfielder Joey Barton had on the Blues, although given the erratic state of mind which prompted the ugly training ground assault on Ousmane Dabo which now leaves the England man facing possible police action, it is probably just as well he was not let loose in such a high-octane atmosphere.


Fergie has one hand on the trophy (Amy Lawrence)
It was too cagey a spectacle to set the pulses racing. United were comfortable, if tired. City were toothless.
Unsurprisingly, the stadium was half empty by the time the City players reemerged for a sheepish lap of honour. Their fans may feel like hibernating over the next few days.


United ease towards title (Roy Collins)
Poor old City, who have not managed a Premiership goal of their own here in a blue moon, a total playing time of 12 hours and 18 minutes since Georgios Samaras’s two efforts on New Year’s Day.


Stamp of Champs (Joe Lovejoy)
Diplomatically, Ferguson declined to discuss a second-minute incident which should have brought Ball a straight red card. With Ronaldo flat on his back and helpless, the City left-back stamped on his midriff and escaped banishment only because the referee Rob Styles and his assistants missed the incident.


City bullies fail to derail United title charge (Paul Mccarthy)
If City, wretched, wretched City, had derailed - albeit temporarily - United’s title charge, it would have been an absolute travesty.
When Michael Ball thrashed his studs into Cristiano Ronaldo’s solar plexus with the referee’s back turned, there wasn’t a neutral around the country who wouldn’t have been pleading for a United victory.

Player ratings

Ratings come from (in order): Grob, Kinkladze-Ireland, cityfan from belgium (Mancityfans), Richard Tucker (rtfract), MEN, The People, Sky and Sky Your Rating.

Isaksson: 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6, 6, 6.2 (av: 5.9)
Precious little to do in either half as his defenders kept him well protected. No chance with well taken penalty that won game. (MEN)
Couple of miss-kicks we were lucky to get away with. Came racing off his line at a corner for no reason and wouldn’t have saved the penalty if he had been standing in the way of it. Nothing to write home about. (Grob)
Together with some others he looked insecure at that corner that was headed on the bar by Ferdinand. Didn’t have that much to do.

Onuoha: 6, 7, 6, 6.5, 6, 6, 7, 6.0 (av: 6.3)
Much better than last week and neither of the Reds vaunted wingers caused him undue problems. Even managed to get himself forward. (MEN)
Great defensively, useless going forward. His passing is absolutely awful and this summer he really needs to work on his touch and distribution. (Grob)

Dunne: 7, 7, 7, 7.5, 7, 6, 7, 6.7 (av: 6.9)
Not an especially difficult afternoon for the City skipper with Smith not offering much of a threat and Rooney in subdued mood. (MEN)
Solid for the most part against a top quality strike force. Distribution needs looking at over the summer because when you compare Ferdinand’s and Vidic’s long balls to Dunne’s, it’s embarrassing. (Grob)

Distin: 7, 7, 8, 7, 6, 6, 7, 6.5 (av: 6.8)
Continues to shine and it would be a big loss should he decide to go at the end of the season. Made Rooney look second best in one on ones. (MEN)
Same as Dunne only with better distribution. (Grob)

Ball: 8, 9, 8, 7, 7, 4, 4, 4.8 (av: 6.5)
Belting derby debut for the full back who gave away the decisive penalty but showed plenty of passion and played Ronaldo as well as anyone could do. (MEN)
I thought he was absolutely brilliant. The stamping incident he was lucky to get away with but apart from that, against the best player in the country at the moment, he was brilliant. Ronaldo will get penalties from much better players than Ball in the fashion he did today. Ball earned us a penalty with some smart thinking. Ball really got stuck in today and looked up for the challenge. Very impressed. New contract please. (Grob)

Hamann: (Jihai 45): 5, 7, 5, 6, 4, 4, 5, 5.2 (av: 5.2)
Veteran was not able to influence the game or the youngsters around him and the Blues were better when Sun came on in the second half. (MEN)
Too old, too slow. Needs to be gone in the summer. Not good enough. (Grob)

Vassell: 6, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5.1 (av: 5.5)
Will be remembered by Blues fans - in Manchester and London - for the penalty miss. Puts himself around well but needs more end product. (MEN)
Used the wide areas well but the penalty was a stinker. (Grob)

Johnson: 7, 6, 6, 7, 6, 5, 5, 5.5 (av: 5.9)
Did superbly for a teenager in his first senior derby. On this evidence there will be plenty more to come from the promising midfielder. (MEN)
Used the ball really well, played a controlled game up against Scholes and Carrick. One poor decision when he should have gone for goal but considering his age and the occasion, he did really, really well. (Grob)

Ireland: (Dickov 69): 5, 6, 5, 6, 5, 6, 6, 5.9, 5.2 (av: 5.6)
It was crowded in the midfield but he held his own well enough without suggesting he was going to take it by scruff of neck. Facing big season next year. (MEN)
Not in good form at the moment. Did nothing of note. Disappointing. Needs to improve next season if he is ever going to make it. (Grob)

Beasley: (Sinclair 61): 6, 5, 5, 6, 4, 4, 6, 5.7 (av: 5.2)
Perhaps not fully fit after being sidelined with hamstring trouble but never got into game apart from one shot in the first half. (MEN)
If he was subbed for anything other than an injury I would be upset. He provided a good outlet on the left and was having a nice battle with Brown until he was taken off. (Grob)

Mpenza: 7, 5, 7, 7, 6, 5, 6, 6.1 (av: 6.1)
Attempted to drag defenders out of position but far too isolated to worry Vidic and Ferdinand on a consistent basis. One decent first half effort.
Worked hard against 2 world-class defenders. Unlucky with his 1st half chance. Good effort overall. (Grob)

Subs:

Jihai (Hamann 45 ): 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5.5 (av: 6.3)
Did a decent enough job and caught the diving bug late on. (MEN)
Impressive. Lots of energy, good use of the ball and brought a bit of tempo to the midfield. He’s a great player to have around the squad. (Grob)

Sinclair (Beasley 61): 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5.1 (av: 4.5)
Could have been his City swansong. Determined but no threat. (MEN)
Absolutely woeful. (Grob)

Dickov (Ireland 69): 5, 5, 5, 6.5, 6, 4, 5, 5.2 (av: 5.2)
Had two kicks; one floored Heinze and the other Vidic. He should have taken penalty. (MEN)
Typical Dickov. Lots of aggression and desire, no quality or telling contributions. Must be moved on in the summer. He isn’t good enough. (Grob)

Subs not used:
Weaver, Samaras