All eyes will be on the Manchester derby this season – just as they were last term. So often a letdown which failed to justify the hype, the derby consistently lived up to its billing last season, with four proper battles between Red and Blue, including two epic cup semi-finals.United came out top dogs, winning three out of the four in dramatic fashion as the Reds again finished above City and won the Carling Cup. The results were no surprise when you consider the attitude of several United players towards their Blue neighbours.
Speaking in The Story of Our Season: The Official Manchester United Players’ Diary 2009-10, which comes out tomorrow, several United players show the depth of feeling and their determination to beat City.Of the final derby game of the season at City and his last-minute winner, Paul Scholes remarked: “I know how much this will mean to our fans. I can assure you it means exactly the same to us. To win in a Manchester derby is a big thing, however you do it.”
The dramatic finale raised the temperature among the home supporters, and Darron Gibson, having been substituted, was well-placed to sample their ire.”I was going mad on the bench near the City fans,” he recalled.
“They weren’t happy and there were nearly a few punches thrown in there. When we scored a few of them leaned over to try and get to us, but there’s nothing you can do about that. To be honest, I wouldn’t have minded being punched, so long as we won!
“There was a lot riding on that game in the week leading up to it,” added United captain Gary Neville. “You could tell at the start of the game that it was carnival time for them. There was a feeling around the place that it was their day, that they were going to win, that they were going to get fourth place and we were going to end up losing the championship.”What they weren’t reckoning on was that they were playing United, and it doesn’t quite happen that way. They were up against 11 players who were determined to make sure we won the game.”Paul Scholes was outstanding on the day and for him to pop up with the winner was unbelievable. For me, it was the outstanding moment of the season. We knew we were out of the league if we didn’t win the game.
Break”We were the ones trying to win the game, whereas City were bringing defensive midfielders on for forwards. Three times we’ve shown them that we go to the last second of every match.”The mentality of the team is always to try to win every match, so late winners aren’t luck. We got the break we needed with a great cross and a great header.”It’s the hardest way to win, of course, but the best way. If you can score in the last minute, there’s no comeback – they just don’t have the time.”Neville celebrated by planting a congratulatory kiss on match-winner Scholes’ lips.”Nev did get some stick for that, but poor Scholesy couldn’t do much, could he?” confirmed John O’Shea.”He was the poor victim who tried to push him off, but it was too late. That’s Gaz for you. I don’t think it was for his benefit, mind you. I think it was to make the City fans feel that little bit angrier!”Neville can now see the funny side. “A few people have given me a bit of stick, but I’ve spoken to a lot of my mates, who said they’d have done exactly the same if they’d been able to get to him! I was just so happy.”And what of Scholes’ reaction to being pounced on by his long-term friend and colleague?”A kiss on the lips from Nev is worth it any time after a winner against City!” he said.The chance for Ryan Giggs to appear in his 33rd successive Manchester derby was too tempting and the veteran winger was selective with the truth when evaluating his hamstring injury with the club’s medical staff ahead of the game.”I hurt my hamstring against Blackburn and I thought my season was over, to be honest,’ Giggs recalled.”But I had treatment and it responded really well and I was desperate to play. I trained on the Friday and I could still feel my hamstring a little bit, so I just kept quiet.’
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