of City, some illusory. Foremost is that all is well with
United, whereas in fact, reduced to 10 men, they might have
been 3-1 down on the hour but for Tim Howard's succession of
masterly saves.
‘At the same time on Saturday, however, United's almost
embarrassing superiority when in possession made light the
crucial loss of David Beckham, and added to the multiple
wounds of Kevin Keegan and his team that are unlikely to
heal during the next 2.5 months.
‘Poor City certainly could not trust on a repeat of their notable
recovery against Tottenham. In the 34 minutes before Paul
Scholes belatedly gave United the lead, City must have felt
as though trapped in a spin dryer. The ball was hardly out
of their half: it was a question of when rather than
whether.
‘United's fluent attacking penetrated on all fronts, none more than
the left. A contest between Ryan Giggs and Richard Dunne is
custom made for Disneyland, veritably the stuff of Tom and
Jerry. Repeatedly Giggs had the ponderous right-back
tackling empty air.
‘Ball control is the essence of the game. Because Roy Keane, Phil
Neville, Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs and Van Nistelrooy can
master the ball instantly, they can deliver the next pass
more swiftly. Because they also do this accurately, the
receiver can do likewise. Therefore they were able to attack
incessantly at what seemed to be twice the pace of City.
‘Beaverishly though Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna worked, they were
being outplayed, and the writing was long writ large across
the stadium. When the first goal came, both central
defenders and goalkeeper Arni Arason were as immobilised as
though in the dentist's chair.’