what the paper say

Derby defeat looked at

The Times start with...

'Wayne Rooney gives Manchester City a reality check'

Man City 0 Man United 1

It
was with a dismissive, disdainful air that Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne
Rooney and others had shrugged off the idea of an uprising in the blue
half of Manchester. To pour scorn on a highly mobilised underclass is
to pour oil on the flames of revolution, but Manchester City are not
yet in any kind of position to overthrow the establishment. Let them
eat cake? Let them sign Kaká and see what difference that makes.

For
the aristocrats of Manchester United, this victory, restoring the
natural sense of order in the city after two derby defeats last season,
was more straightforward than the scoreline suggests. Not even a red
card for Cristiano Ronaldo, for an inexplicable second bookable
offence, could throw Ferguson’s team off course after they took a
deserved lead in the 42nd minute through Rooney’s first goal in eight
games. It was the former Everton forward’s 100th club goal and enough
to see United past their neigbours.

City were playing against
ten men for the final quarter of the game, but only once, when Richard
Dunne’s shot was cleared off the line by Patrice Evra in the third
minute of stoppage time, did they come close.

Mark Hughes, the
City manager, admitted as much afterwards. United, as European and
Barclays Premier League champions, represent the yardstick against
which all teams are measured and, at present, City are well short. That
may change in the long term, with the club’s Arab owners determined to
reinforce their team by signing A-list stars such as Gianluigi Buffon
and Kaká, as well as Hughes’s more reasoned targets, but, both in the
City boardroom and in Abu Dhabi, this result should bring some
realisation of the size of the task of escaping from the shadow that
looms from Old Trafford.

A team can beat United once — or even
twice, as City did last season under Sven-Göran Eriksson, “a lucky
manager” according to Ferguson — but if City intend to compete with the
enemy and to build something enduring, yesterday will have to be a
learning experience. “You look at this United side and they have
players with huge experience of winning trophies and playing at the top
level at European and international level,” Hughes said. “They are
building from a position of strength. But we have to compete against
them and, in the future, I believe we will.”

It was City’s
misfortune to find their neighbours in belligerent mood, in stark
contrast to the Arsenal team who lost 3-0 at the venue eight days
earlier. United even accrued six yellow cards — including Ronaldo’s two
— of which four were fouls on Shaun Wright-Phillips. Hughes observed,
as diplomatically as possible, that there was a cynicism about the way
United continually cut off the winger in his prime — Ferguson might
have called it “systematic fouling” had Ronaldo been the victim — but
there was also a deeply entrenched professionalism and dedication about
the way that they went about their business.

Michael Carrick,
not for the first time in recent weeks, was outstanding in midfield,
while Rooney, after a recent barren patch, was enjoying himself again.

Ronaldo?
His was an act of stupidity and it was no use trying to play the victim
card. Already booked in the 59th minute for a late challenge on
Wright-Phillips, he all but asked to be sent off nine minutes later
when, attacking Rooney’s near-post corner, he handled the ball. The
case for the defence was hardly strengthened by the number of excuses
offered — Ronaldo, belatedly, tried to convince Howard Webb that he had
heard a whistle; Rio Ferdinand claimed that the forward had been
pushed; Ferguson that the poor lad was trying only to protect his face.
As Hughes put it, “if he thought it was going to hit him in the face,
why didn’t he head it?”

Even without ten men, though, United
were good enough, having threatened through Ronaldo, Evra and Dimitar
Berbatov during a dominant first-half performance before they finally
took the lead. It was a goal that owed much to persistence, with United
refusing to let City clear their lines before Park Ji Sung set up
Carrick for a left-foot shot that Joe Hart could only push into the
path of Rooney. The forward celebrated with all the restraint you would
expect of a highly charged individual who had just scored his first
goal in weeks at the home of the local rivals.

The introduction
of Elano at half-time gave City a little more purpose and vision, but
Robinho, upon whom the home supporters had pinned so much hope, was
nowhere to be seen. Rafael Da Silva deserves much credit for that, the
18-year-old strengthening his claim at right back with another show of
character in addition to his undoubted flair. Hughes confessed
afterwards that Robinho had not been fully fit, having required a
painkilling injection in an ankle beforehand.

While the City No
10 floundered, his United counterpart, Rooney, continued to lead the
charge. In the final moments of the game, after Evra had cleared off
the line from Dunne, Rooney tried to chip the ball into the net from 50
yards, with Hart stranded upfield. Somehow the City goalkeeper got back
in time, but it mattered not. Within seconds, United’s supporters were
celebrating. The blue revolution was on hold. Again.

Manchester
City (4-1-4-1): J Hart 7 - M Richards 5, V Kompany 7, R Dunne 6, J
Garrido 6 - D Hamann 4 - D Vassell 4, S Wright-Phillips 7, S Ireland 6,
Robinho 5 - Benjani Mwaruwari 5. Substitutes: P Zabaleta 5 (for Hamann,
46min), Elano 6 (for Vassell, 46), D Sturridge (for Richards, 76). Not
used: K Schmeichel, T Ben-Haim, M Ball, Jô. Next: Fulham (a).

Manchester
United (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 - Rafael Da Silva 7, R Ferdinand 7, N
Vidic 7, P Evra 8 - Park Ji Sung 6, D Fletcher 6, M Carrick 8, C
Ronaldo 6 - W Rooney 8, D Berbatov 6. Substitutes: R Giggs (for
Berbatov, 84min), J O’Shea (for Park, 90). Not used: B Foster, J Evans,
Anderson, Nani, C Tévez. Next: Sunderland (h).

Referee: H Webb Attendance: 47,320

The Daily Mirror look to January and say...

'Two in race for Heskey'

DAVE WHELAN is ready to sanction the January sale of Emile Heskey in a bid to save Wigan from a £4million summer bombshell.

England
striker Heskey, 30, has snubbed Wigan's attempts to hand him a new deal
to replace his current contract, which expires at the end of the season.

Liverpool and Manchester City are both eyeing a cut-price swoop for the powerful frontman in January.

And finally City fans' favourite ex-referee Graham Poll has his view on the Ronaldo red card from yesterday in the Daily Mail...

'Graham Poll: If rogue whistle did make Ronaldo handle ball ref Howard Webb didn't hear it'

Players
are always told to play to the whistle and it certainly appeared that
Cristiano Ronaldo heard one before deliberately handling the ball,
which led to his dismissal.

Law is clear in stating that ‘if a
spectator blows a whistle and the referee considers the whistle
interfered with play, the referee shall stop the match and restart the
play with a drop ball ....'

The key is that Howard Webb did not
hear the rogue whistle - nor was it obvious on TV replays - and he
deemed Ronaldo’s handball unsporting.
Whether there was a whistle or not, handball is not a mandatory caution.

The
player must be seen to be either breaking up a promising forward attack
or trying to gain an advantage with his deliberate act.
With the
advantage of a slow motion replay, Ronaldo’s first caution could be
seen as harsh, although Webb did not have that luxury.