Shaun Goater stood tall at Old Trafford as Kevin Keegan's
inspired late substitution robbed Manchester United of derby-day revenge.
Trailing to Ruud van Nistelrooy's first-half opener and with neither Robbie
Fowler nor Nicolas Anelka making much of an impact, Keegan threw on Goater and
Ali Benarbia for the final frenzied five minutes.
The outcome was devastating. With his first touch Benarbia delivered an astute
free-kick which Shaun Wright-Phillips chipped into the box where Goater, scorer
of two in City's 3-1 triumph over the same opposition in November, steered his
header past Roy Carroll.
It might only have grabbed a point for their team, who still have not won on
enemy territory since 1974 and could not record their first league double over
United for 33 years, but their supporters celebrated as though they had won the
league.
City could have had even more, Goater's injury-time effort was ruled out for
handball against Anelka, who had steered his team-mate into space after
Wright-Phillips' deflected shot had bounced back off the crossbar.
But parity was to be enjoyed when for 85 minutes the familiarity of defeat
stared the visitors in the face, only for United to pay for their inability to
convert a succession of chances, which meant they went into the final stages
clinging to van Nistelrooy's 27th club goal of the season.
With the weight of history hanging heavily on their shoulders, City could have
done without the loss of their inspirational goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel in the
pre-match warm-up.
Desperate to play against his former club, the great Dane pushed himself just
too far in his attempts to overcome a calf injury and disconsolately threw his
gloves into the crowd as he accepted defeat.
Carlo Nash was called off the bench and was quickly into the action as United,
publicly lambasted by their normally ultra-defensive manager after the Maine
Road debacle, forced a couple of early corners, signalling their attacking
intent.
Giggs was revelling in his roving role just behind van Nistelrooy and popped
up on the right to deliver a cross which Nash bravely collected at Paul Scholes'
feet.
While Giggs' contribution was obvious, Roy Keane was slightly less easy to
spot but produced a performance of all-round magnificence.
Keane had ended the last Old Trafford meeting between the pair in disgrace
when he viciously connected with Alfie Haaland's knee.
The turbulence of that event has rumbled on for almost two years, since when
the fiery son of Cork has hit the headlines on a regular basis for all the wrong
reasons.
Yet today, he showed why he remains such a vital and valued member of
Ferguson's side.
In defence, Keane swept away danger on more than one occasion, in midfield his
biting tackles robbed the visitors of their momentum and in attack, the
31-year-old spotted the gaps which his team might have exploited more clinically
than they did.
It was Keane who set up United's opener, sending Giggs galloping through the
chasm which had opened amid the blue shirts and the Welshman had the awareness
to know exactly where van Nistelrooy wanted the cross to land.
Van Nistelrooy might have netted a replica just before the half-hour when
Keane sent David Beckham sprinting down the right but this time Nash managed to
smother the danger.
Beckham should have been awarded a penalty before that when he was sent flying
by Sommeil's ill-advised challenge. Referee Alan Wiley waved away the howls of
protest from a mass of red shirts but television replays indicated the official
had got it wrong.
For all their effort, City lacked a goal threat. Their new £20million
strikeforce was largely starved of possession and the closest they came to
scoring during the opening period was when Roy Carroll, continuing to deputise
for the injured Fabien Barthez, fumbled a speculative Anelka effort round the
post.
Fowler remained on the periphery after the break, when City at least pushed
forward with greater conviction, even if the eventual outcome was less than
dangerous.
Carroll did have to scuttle back to palm away a Marc-Vivien Foe effort which
had looped under the bar and substitute Wright-Phillips failed to find either
the target or a team-mate with a chip from the right after the United keeper had
raced from his goal.
United though carried more threat. Sylvain Distin slid in to deny van
Nistelrooy a scoring chance after the Dutchman had latched onto Rio Ferdinand's
long ball, then Giggs was not too convincing when he lost out to Nash in a
full-blooded tackle as he attempted to finish off a length-of- the-field move by
latching onto Beckham's delayed through-ball.
Beckham failed with head and foot as the contest continued to be a switchback
ride between home dominance and periods of City pressure.
It was then that Keegan made his fateful decision, which could have untold
consequences for United's Premiership dream.
Teams:
Man Utd: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, Silvestre,
Beckham, Keane, Veron (Butt 77), Giggs (Solskjaer 88), Scholes,
van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Phil Neville, O'Shea.
Booked: Gary Neville.
Goals: van Nistelrooy 18.
Man City: Nash, Sommeil, Howey, Distin, Jihai, Foe,
Horlock (Wright-Phillips 66), Berkovic (Benarbia 85), Jensen,
Anelka, Fowler (Goater 85).
Subs Not Used: Stuhr-Ellegaard, Dunne.
Booked: Foe.
Goals: Goater 86.
Att: 67,646
Ref: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
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