“Why always me?” Why not when it’s this good. Mario Balotelli opened up an initially subdued derby with a controlled stroke of the ball, raised his shirt and set City on course for an even greater victory than the 5-1 of 1989.
Mario’s next significant act was to accelerate past Johnny Evans, who foolishly got himself sent off for trying to pull back the Italian. That moment opened up space in the United half and David Silva needed no further invitation to take the game to another level.
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Hart – Superbly protected by those in front of him. Dealt well with a couple of long range efforts in the second half. 8
Richards – Showed his defensive mettle in a physical tussle with Young during the opening period. Went on to demonstrate the attacking side of his game, the high point being a powerful cross for Aguero’s goal. 9
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City moving to the top of the league last weekend has given this derby an extra edge, and City a psychological boost. United will be desperate to get back on top but Roberto Mancini’s side have the opportunity to show they are worthy of top spot.
Mancini was used to leading from the front when winning Serie A titles with Inter, and it’s an amazing place to be for City fans unused to such an experience. For one thing, it would make a draw a more satisfactory result.
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City secured their finest victory in the Sheikh Mansour era thanks to a Yaya Toure strike early in the second half. The prize is a return to Wembley to take on Stoke in our first FA Cup final since 1981.
Truth be told neither side brought their best game to the final. United were stronger in the opening half hour while we had the better of the same period in the second half. The difference was Yaya Toure taking our golden chance while Berbatov fluffed theirs.
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