|
Manchester Teams Worlds Apart
The latest Manchester derby might have proved a more entertaining and convincing spectacle if Stuart Pearces side had made a positive effort to win it. Unfortunately, from the very first minute it became clear that their ambition did not extend beyond containment, by whatever means they could get away with.
The game had barely kicked off when Ball, who seems to have taken it upon himself to assume the darkest duties of both the departed Ben Thatcher and the suspended Joey Barton, watched Ronaldo felled by a tackle, and having first bravely satisfied himself that the attention of referee Rob Styles was elsewhere, buried his boot in the Manchester United stars stomach. Since Balls intelligence is roughly on a par with his ability, it did not occur to him that questions would be asked about what might have caused Ronaldo to writhe in agony and as the game was being televised, clear retrospective evidence would be available, in addition to any visible scars left by his assault.
While no City player, including Ball himself, could match the severity of this opening attack, the general trend continued, ensuring that during the course of the game they managed to kick Ronaldo again (frequently) and also Rooney, Carrick, Vidic, Ferdinand and Heinze.
Remarkably, all of these incidents were regarded with benevolent leniency by Rob Styles, who seems to have transformed himself from the inflexible card happy disciplinarian of earlier years to a smirking unpredictable official liable to come up with a wise decision one minute and an extraordinarily naive one the next. True to form, he gave the obvious penalty when Ronaldo exacted revenge upon Ball by taking him on and inviting the inevitable, and blatant, trip. Then in the 79th minute, presumably in a spirit of misplaced compassion (or was it just incompetence) Styles rewarded Balls dive as he brushed past the innocent Brown by pointing to the spot. Fortunately, justice was done when the long legs of Van der Sar diverted Vassells unconvincing attempt to score and United survived to secure the victory that makes them title favourites.
In view of the manner in which Manchester City approached the game, anything less would have been a travesty.
|
