I am going to post only once more about this match, then I am going to go to church and put the derby behind me... The ref, while I believe he played too much extra time, did not force us to fail to mark Owen at the edge of the box. He did not make Micah fall asleep for Rooney's goal, and did not force Hughes to switch away from a formation that was working perfectly in my opinion. The bright side of course is that without our most dangerous attacker we had enough away from home to push the defending champs. Our next five matches are all winnable, and as we all know, the league is won by beating Wigan and Stoke, not by beating United and Arsenal.
Yeah that can't be lost in all of this. It was poor defense was poor in letting Owen get one in the net.
No doubt. Anyone can make a strong argument United deserved three points from this game. But we didn't deserve to lose by "Infinite Injury Time"
Manchester United-Machester City 4-3 ::: 11 min. highlights http://www.videoplayer.hu/videos/play/417916
Too much money from the Middle East into the EPL. Too many big interests. People are starting to move away from the EPL because of matches like this one --excellent game ruined by the officials' decision to allow the game to keep going. I myself am focusing more on La Liga and Ligue 1. Too many "funny" calls in the EPL, too many strange situations. Perhaps if people around the world stop watching (which is starting, already), the money invested in it will drop enough to go back to actual football. PS: For the effects corporate interests can have on a league see Serie A.
We may be without another striker come next weekend. His performance today is above reproach. But this picture is an example of the sort of thing MVF have been discussing in earnest for some time now. I know he was worked up, disgusted with the match ending, and not amused by the attack on him from the Rag supporter, but it does not mean he should have reacted this way (especially after it seems the steward had the gent restrained). The media, by and large, love to run with his misconduct and I have already seen mention on SSN. We shall see what happens.
ABSOLUTELY F-ING PREPOSTEROUS I cannot even begin to express my disgust in this most obvious of corruption.
I didn't get a chance to watch the entire game, but I just read on espn soccernet that the 4th official added an extra minute because Bellamy's celebration at 90th minute took that long. as a Chinese football fan, I stopped following the Chinese league because of all the corruption behind it. I always thought the EPL had the highest integrity and it would break my heart if this turns out to be corruption. I just don't know if I can ever find real soccer anywhere. now, let's not get too carried away. Hear me out for a second. The referee, by prolonging the game for another 90 seconds, is acting neutral act as both teams can utilize that time to score that last goal. If we were up by a goal and he did that, then I would start to question his motives. Let's think about this for a second with a cool head. Imagine if City scored the last goal and won 4-3, what would the Rags say? They'd complain about the same thing. I said it before the game, I didn't have high hopes of City winning this game just because we were missing Ade and Robinho, coupled by the fact that Tevez was not fully recovered from his injury. I treat this as a heartbreaking loss, but let's look on the bright side, 3 years ago we wouldn't even come close. I think our boys have more than made their point that we are can challenge the top four. I mean, rags won by the skin of their teeth. Again, this is only one game. What's more important is that we focus on beating Fullham on Wednesday. What I am disappointed with is the picture above, displaying what could be another suspension. Please say it ain't so.
honestly, at this point in the day (I just finished watching the match via download) I'm thrilled that some rag fan got punched in the jaw. I am just livid.
This is a good point, but given the venue it was much likelier that MU would score. I doubt the ref would have extended the match to 6 minutes anywhere else but OT.
Was little more than a clip around the ears. Very little in it. (and what have i been talking about!?!)
Did any media outlets mention how a United fan threw something with the intention to hit Tevez, but instead hit Garrido after the first half ended? The radio announcers mentioned it after the second half began.
Theres been some. Also, Neville ran 40+ metres to taunt city fans after Owen scored. Somehow i just can't see there being it as big as Adebayor (even though it really doesn't bother me at all, just hate double standards)
this piece of video makes me sick. Wiley and Ferguson having their laugh with total disregard of the rules of football [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-fREb-2QEA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-fREb-2QEA[/ame]
I really feel sorry for you fans..Just could not figure out the necessity of adding 4 extra minutes in the first place.. and even if that can be justified, I cannot see any reason why an extra 90 seconds where added, when there was no delay in the injury time, apart from a brief substitution (30 seconds).. http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/ed...by-comment-premier-league-refs-in-a-league-of BTW, I do not watch too many EPL games, but have decided to support City this season because of this grave injustice meted out from the team I hate the most..
Hughes must have been fuming when he saw that. I'm all for good relations between officials and managers but surel the ref would realise how dodgy that looks?? Its one thing to lose in the last minute but in the 6 minute of "4" added on must be hard to take. I know its probably too soon after yesterday but console yourselves with the fact that you have got United rattled. They may have won yesterday but the way you played suggest 1) you will beat them in the return game and 2) have every chance of finishing above them in the league.
Cheers to both you guys. Some douche in the United room offered his explanation on (to bitter man city fans) such as myself on "Why the game was a Proper win" I responded with the idea, that Man United had many many many of the neutral supporters in that game, and rightfully so after The new ownership and Ade thing, it was to be expected, But at the end of the day, Scum have proven to the world... like they do time and time and time again... that they are ONE OF THE MOST VILE FRANCHISES that you are going to find in Sport. All the rags responded with "Yeah, I don't care if the world hates us, that's the way it's supposed to be" and "FERGIE TIME". It's nice to see United consistantly doing more to RUIN the sport then us. Things are back to normal!
I don't think the timekeeping was incorrect - by the laws of the game and the opinions of the various professional referees I've heard discussing this today the extended time was perfectly legal. IMO where the issue lies is in the application of these and other rules on a consistent basis to all clubs. The 'big 4' do, as a whole, benefit from inconsistent refereeing in the league and this needs to be looked at
Sorry, thought I'd said that more clearly. The referee was entirely within his rights and the laws of the game to extend the injury time the way he did and there was a justifiable basis to do so (again, strictly by the laws of the game)
Not ONLY this, but... City were ATROCIOUS defensively for the entire match. richards was extremely poor and has alot to learn. why hughes ditched his formation to 442 and try an mirrow united, Only HE knows... You guys Failed to control Fletcher, and Owen. ENOUGH SAID. tevez should've chested that final ball down and ran to the byline and secured the draw. what did he do? he headed the ball back to them like an inexperienced 15 yr fool! didnt he cost like 30 million? isn't he a CL winner? City were very, very poor. so were united. in the end, Uniteds been doing this for DECADES, thats what won them the game. City can be proud, and everyone knows that they will probably win the league within a few years, but you guys shouldn't turn a blind eye to YOUR mistakes.
No ones saying the ref did anything illegal. Just something that wouldn't have happened at Ewood Park, or the Reebok, or Villa park or Upton Park or Mlineux etc etc etc etc