United, City brace for crucial derby

MANCHESTER, England — The defining plot twist of the most enthralling title race in years could be written on Monday as Manchester City attempts to seize control of its Premier League destiny against leader Manchester United.

Time is now: Wayne Rooney will attempt to help United beat City for Premier League supremacy. AP

Three weeks ago, United already had one hand on a record 20th title after City's defeat at Arsenal left Alex Ferguson's team a hefty eight points clear with only six games remaining.

But a poor run of results from United, which has taken only four points from a possible nine, has suddenly given City the chance to move into first place.

An estimated worldwide television audience of more than 650 million is expected to tune in for a match being hyped as the biggest in Premier League history.

"This is the derby game of all derby games," Ferguson said. "It's in the blood of the supporters and I know lots of fans who would give everything to win this game."

City midfielder Gareth Barry also emphasized the unique nature of the top-of-the-table duel.

"People are speaking of this as being the biggest game in Premier League history and it's a massive game to play in," Barry said.

"I don't think you can get away from the size of the game against United and the pressure."

The equation for City is simple: a victory would see it return to the top of the table.

Wins at Newcastle and at home to Queens Park Rangers would then guarantee City the title, provided United is unable to make up its rivals' significant advantage in goal difference, which currently stands at plus six.

City manager Roberto Mancini has attempted to douse the expectation level by stating that United will remain favorites for the title even if it loses, citing the champions' final two matches against Swansea and Sunderland.

"I think they have more chance than us because we play the derby on Monday, after we play against Newcastle, that will be a very tough game," Mancini said.

Ferguson meanwhile is relishing the challenge from opponents he views as the biggest threat to United's position at the summit of the English game owing to the club's seemingly limitless wealth.

City, which humiliated United 6-1 at Old Trafford in October, has rattled in 12 goals in its past three games, and its nimble strikeforce of Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez will fancy their chances of adding to that haul if Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans have another off-day.

Of all the storylines to emerge from this year's Premier League page-turner, it is the re-emergence of Tevez that is potentially the most compelling.

Ostracized by Mancini after his infamous refusal to warm up during the Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich in September, the former United striker then disappeared to Argentina for three months.

Tevez has responded to his recall by delivering goals, adding an injection of verve to a City forward line that had been struggling to reproduce its scintillating early season form.

Tevez, who is expected to seek a move this summer, will be putting his talents on show to a mammoth worldwide audience, with a record 16 broadcasters airing the match live.

"The interest in this game from around the world is unprecedented," a City spokesman said.

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Manchester derby for all the marbles

LONDON — Since Manchester City became potentially the richest club in the world following their takeover by the Abu Dhabi-based business group, each time it plays Manchester United these days it is billed as "the biggest derby ever."

On Monday the hype will have a more realistic ring because while the clash at Etihad Stadium is not quite a Premier League title playoff it is the closest possible. There is far more than local bragging rights at stake, that's for sure, and Sky Sports, which has never knowingly undersold any live game, are rightly calling it the "match of the season."

Sir Alex Ferguson calls it "probably the biggest derby in my time," adding: "There has been an expectancy from City that this could be their decider, but it's our decider too."

With three games to play United leads City by three points so an away victory would effectively mean a 20th English crown heading for Old Trafford. A draw favors United, but for City it is a must-win match.

Eager not to put more pressure on his players Roberto Mancini said: "United are favorites because they have three points more."

City is unlikely to win 6-1 as it did at Old Trafford earlier in the season. At home, Mancini's side has won 16 of its 17 league games this season, but against that run United won 3-2 at Etihad in the F.A. Cup in January.

Two weeks ago, City's defeat by Arsenal saw United open an eight-point lead at the top. One bookmaker even paid out on United. Since then City has won three straight games, scoring 12 goals and the gap has been reduced to three points.

United must have an uneasy feeling about the return to the City team of Carlos Tevez, who switched from red to blue two years ago. Tevez and Sergio Aguero have played 304 minutes together this season and in that time Tevez has scored four goals, Aguero 11.

Some things in football are just meant to be, and if Fernando Torres scoring for Chelsea at Nou Camp last Tuesday falls into that category, then Tevez netting the winner against his former club has a similar ring to it.

It's been an engrossing Premier League season, full of tales of the unexpected and the unpredictable. Tevez scoring what the headlines will call "a title clincher" would be in keeping with what's happened over the last eight months.

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SEVEN PLAYERS from Bayern Munich and Chelsea will miss next month's Champions League final at the home of the German club.

While there is sympathy for the Munich Seven, there is none for Chelsea captain John Terry, who keeps finding new ways to go down even lower in public opinion. His sly (but not sly enough) knee in the back of Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez was rightly punished by a red card, ruling him out of the final at Allianz Arena.

Branislav Ivanovic (10), Raul Meireles (11), Ramires (10), plus Bayern's Luiz Gustavo (10), Holger Badstuber (10) and David Alaba (10) are victims of UEFA's three-yellow-cards-and-you-are-banned policy that has robbed the final of 27 percent of its participants.

The figures in brackets are how many Champions League games they have played this season, though, it would be wrong to say that they deserve their punishment having been cautioned in 30 percent of the matches they have played in. Punishment should always fit the crime and in their case it does not.

Everything should be done to discourage foul play, yet at the same time everyone should be given the best chance to play in European club football's biggest match, and it is unfair that yellow cards remain in place from August to April.

A player can be cautioned in two qualifying ties in August (let's assume the finalists don't enter the competition any earlier) . . . play the group stage (six games) and the knockout phase (another five up to the semi-final second leg) without a yellow card until in the last minute of penultimate game, he mis-times a tackle and is out of the final.

He's played 11 games without another sanction then in the second semifinal he is cautioned and misses the final.

In fact, it is possible to miss the final by being cautioned only once in the Champions League.

The UEFA Super Cup in August and, mysteriously, the FIFA Club World Cup in December also count on the Champions League disciplinary chart. So a player is cautioned in the Super Cup . . . he picks up another yellow card in the Club World Cup . . . then in the semifinal, second leg he receives his only yellow card of the Champions League campaign . . . and is suspended from the final.

Credible?

I don't think so.

UEFA should wipe the slate clean after the group stage, when it should be two yellow cards and a one-match ban; then two yellow cards and a suspension in the knockout phase.

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YOU WOULD expect the Professional Footballers' Association to protect its members, to back them when public opinion is overwhelmingly against some of the excesses of the modern day footballer.

Yet to allow a player to be honored, even applauded, as he starts a prison sentence for rape underlines how football lives in its own world.

Last Sunday, Ched Evans, the now former Sheffield United striker, was voted in the PFA's League One Team of the Season. It was a democratic vote by his fellow professionals from the third tier of English football.

Evans was not at the presentation dinner because he was two days into a five-year sentence after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman in a North Wales hotel last May.

Christopher Davies was a longtime Premier League correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph.

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Scholes returns as United edges City in F.A. Cup derby

MANCHESTER, England — The F.A. Cup's Manchester derby left Alex Ferguson seething about United's carelessness and Roberto Mancini hailing City's strength and positive attitude.

The winner of Sunday's third-round contest, though, was Manchester United — just.

Having stormed into a 3-0 lead and seen City captain Vincent Kompany sent off in the first half, United stumbled after the break against the holders before clinging on to win 3-2 and book a trip to Liverpool.

"We were 3-0 up at halftime and we thought we were through," Ferguson said. "(We) took our foot off the pedal."

City hauled itself back into contention after strikes from Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Aguero, whose goal came after the ball was given away by United midfielder Paul Scholes hours after he surprisingly came out of retirement.

"It was a careless performance in the second half and we should have been home and dry," Ferguson said. "We made mistakes and you suffer if you make mistakes."

Similar mistakes have seen the champions lose back-to-back Premier League matches to slip three points behind leader City, and despite the defeat, Sunday's game only strengthened Mancini's belief that he will deliver the club's first English title since 1968.

"If we show the same attitude and strength in other games that we showed against United with only 10 men then yes we can win the league," the City manager said. "I said we had to improve and I think we are doing so.

"To play 80 minutes against one of the best teams in Europe with ten men and come so close to saving the game was fantastic."

But United advanced and were also joined in the fourth round Sunday by Chelsea, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday. Chelsea routed Portsmouth 4-0 after scoring all four goals in the second half, Sunderland won 2-0 at Peterborough, and Sheffield Wednesday beat West Ham 1-0.

At the Etihad Stadium, it seemed that United would avenge its 6-1 league loss to City earlier in the season with its own derby rout after a dominant first half.

Wayne Rooney was rampant two days after being forced to deny he was about to leave United due to a rift with Ferguson, scoring the opener after 10 minutes.

City's day took another turn for the worse inside two minutes when Kompany was sent off by referee Chris Foy for a two-footed low lunge on Nani. City will appeal against the red card to prevent Kompany serving a four-match ban.

United made its man advantage count on the half-hour, as Patrice Evra crossed from the left into a crowded penalty area, and Danny Welbeck took advantage of Samir Nasri's failed clearance to smash a spectacular volley into the net with his back turned toward the goal.

The third came five minutes before the break after Welbeck ran onto Giggs' ball and was tripped by Kolarov in the area. Rooney's penalty was saved by Costel Pantilimon — deputizing for the rested Joe Hart — but the striker headed the rebound into the net.

United was never so comfortable again.

After Patrice Evra fouled Richards, Kolarov curled his free kick into the net just three minutes into the second half.

The much-anticipated return of Scholes then came, but United still had a difficult last 30 minutes.

Within minutes — just after United was denied another penalty when Antonio Valencia was fouled by Kolarov — Scholes gave away the ball to James Milner on the right. Aguero latched on to Milner's cross and buried the ball into the net after Anders Lindegaard spilled his initial shot.

"We had other chances to score in the end and we didn't concede any chances for them to score," Mancini said.

The 37-year-old Scholes announced on Sunday morning that he was returning to the squad seven months after retiring, with United in the midst of an injury crisis.

"I was surprised, we didn't find out until we got to the dressing room," Rooney said. "It gave everyone a lift. He's a fantastic player."

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