Rooney's Winner, Ronaldo's Shame

Manchester City 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (42)

Red Card: Ronaldo (68)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Park (O'Shea 90), Ronaldo, Rooney, Berbatov (Giggs 84)

Not exactly the kind of derby result I was expecting. Rooney covered himself with glory, scoring the only goal in a tight game, while Ronaldo went the opposite direction, shrouding himself in shame as he was deservedly sent off for a blatant handball.

We had the upper hand in the opening exchanges but were, as usual, not able to convert. Even when Joe Hart spilled the ball, we were not sharp enough to pounce on the City keeper. On the other end, Van der Sar once again proved what a liability he is with balls floated in from freekicks. He flapped at the ball, getting nowhere near it. Thankfully, City were as lacklustre as we were upfront.

Rooney's goal came late late in the first half thru some determined work from Park. The ball was bouncing around in the penalty area and Park's tenacity brought it to Carrick's feet. With the goal inviting, Carrick took a fine shot that Joe Hart could only parry onto the path of Rooney. The newly crowned 100-goal man wheeled away in celebration, and somewhat in relief after finally breaking the duck. Maybe with that monkey finally off his back, he might produce the kind of performance we've been used to. He's been playing like crap for the past month, at times trying too hard.

City came on strong in the second half and we barely stemmed the flood of sky blue shirts coming at us. Then inexplicably Ronaldo handled in the area to leave Howard Webb no choice but to flash the second yellow. I don't understand how anyone can defend his stupidity, let alone a well-respected manager like Ferguson.

His dismissal left his teammates a man short, and United were left to defend the remaining 20 minutes in a hostile atmosphere. We killed the game and it was pretty much a bore to see City try to break us down, at the same time watching United play the kind of football we dread to see.

Despite all that, the game somehow managed to come to life in the dying seconds. City had a goalline clearance and from the resultant ball, Rooney launched a ball from just within the City half goal wards. Joe Hart, who had been sprinting back from the corner at the other end made a diving save to prevent the scoreline from being larger. My mates who were watching the game with me were marvelling at the sequence of play.

We stayed on to watch Chelsea get humbled by a crisis-wrought Arsenal. We've closed the gap between us. Now all that remains is for Liverpool to fumble against the Hammers tomorrow to make it a good weekend.