Wonderful neighbor

"Manchester United" put the "citizens" in their place

The old-timers of the “Big Four of England” spent the past weekend putting things in order at home. Manchester United head coach Alex Ferguson said this after the victory over Manchester City, full of ambition and Arab millions of pounds: “We have a neighbor who sometimes makes noise, but today we calmed him down and we can move on with our lives.” Two hours later, Chelsea launched a successful campaign to pacify London's Tottenham, and the English championship standings, despite all the noise of the summer transfer market, took on a completely familiar look.

Sir Alex, however, was somewhat wrong in his arrogant remark. In the early days of the Mancunian derby, which has a history of more than a century, it was the fans of the club now called Manchester United who were considered noisy guys from the city outskirts who had to be reined in from time to time. But for more than a hundred years, Manchester United, having won many trophies, has straightened out a very worthy pedigree for itself, and the “townspeople,” even having received powerful financial support, remain outsiders in this confrontation.

But every year MS and United accumulate new grievances against each other, and Carlos Tevez was supposed to be the central figure of the last derby. The story of the Argentine striker's transfer from Manchester United to the hostile MS was one of the main blockbusters of the past transfer summer. Tevez left United, loudly accusing Ferguson of neglecting his person. But Manchester United fans are sure that the Argentine was simply chasing the long pound.

This is just one of the stories that characterize the complexity of neighborly relations. Before the match itself, its participants made the situation even more tense with sharp statements. And in the end, Old Trafford turned out to be the hottest derby of recent decades. United, eager to prove their superiority, constantly moved forward, and at times Given had to work miracles to save his goal from a very indecent number of goals conceded. The Citizens, responding to their harsh words before the match, heroically equalized the score, taking advantage of the opponent's mistakes. And when protagonist Craig Bellamy managed to do it for the third time in the 90th minute, it seemed that MS would get an honorable draw. But in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Michael Owen finally put an end to this protracted exchange of blows and insults - 4:3. “This is one of the moments in my career that I will remember many years from now,” Owen said of the significance of his goal. And the “townspeople” could only be indignant at the number of minutes added by the referee.

A little later, in the London derby, Chelsea completely ruined Tottenham's start, which until recently was considered the best in the club's history. A couple of weeks ago, the Spurs, with the maximum points scored in four matches, were adjacent to the Blues at the top of the standings. But as soon as Harry Redknapp's team met serious opponents, all the luster fell away from it. After the defeat from Manchester United, the defeat from Chelsea followed, and it immediately became clear that it was not in vain that Tottenham conceded in each of their matches, and the super-attacking tactics of Spurs with three strikers are only suitable for playing against teams like Hull "or "Birmingham".

The gamble with Chelsea did not work out. The Blues easily found weaknesses in Tottenham's defense, and in the second half they busily carried things out to defeat. Carlo Ancelotti's start to the English Championship now looks truly impressive: six wins in six matches and an unconditional lead. And only Drogba’s injury can now upset the Blues. But the Chelsea forward has time to recover before the really decisive matches.

Results of the 6th round matches. "Manchester United" - "Manchester City" - 4:3, "Wolverhampton" - "Fulham" - 2:1, "Everton" - "Blackburn" - 3:0, "Chelsea" - " Tottenham - 3:0, Burnley - Sunderland - 3:1, Hull City - Birmingham - 0:1, Bolton - Stoke City - 1: 1, Aston Villa - Portsmouth - 2:0, Arsenal - Wigan - 4:0, West Ham - Liverpool - 2:3. Leading: Chelsea - 18 points (6 games), Manchester United - 15 (6), Manchester City, Aston Villa - 12 each (5), Liverpool, Tottenham - to 12 (6).

Andrey VDOVIN