New Delhi: "It was our worst ever day." No denying from a brutally-honest Sir Alex Ferguson in the wake of Manchester United's stunning 6-1 defeat to noisy neighbours City. "It's the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player, I don't think I ever lost 6-1. I can't believe the scoreline."
Going into the match, Man United were just two points shy from the summit of Premier League and given the home record and form, surely they were favourites for all the three points, but United fell apart after the dismissal of Jonny Evans and had no answers to the excellence of David Silva.
Well, there is no denying that there is still long way to go but now surely Manchester City are serious title contenders, though it would be too early to say if there is shift of power in Manchester's football history. City are five points clear, playing like champions in the making and informing the likes of United and Chelsea that they are up for the fight.
But if we don't read much into Sunday's result, actually United have now played all of the five clubs who finished immediately beneath them last season, and only two of their opening nine league fixtures have been against clubs from the bottom 10. There is, in other words, plenty to reassure them that it has actually been a good start to the season, but the biggest worry for United is not defence or attack - it's midfield.
That is not to insult Darren Fletcher and Anderson. Fletcher's goal was wonderfully taken and in terms of general play, the truth is there were times when they were simply outnumbered. But a club of this ambition really ought to have at least one category-A player, someone like Wesley Sneijder or Bastian Schweinsteiger who can dominate the proceedings and can act as a link-up between the attackers and the defenders.
Comparing them to City's midfield, David Silva should win the Player of the Season award for that moment alone. He's a class above everyone else and the way he made United pay is opportunity of a lifetime for anti-Man United fanatics.
As they say, football can be cruel at times. United have been made to suffer in the past - losing 4-1 at home to Liverpool a couple of years ago, 5-0 at Newcastle a decade previously - but never like this, never by this margin on home soil, never without any sort of answer, and never once during Sir Alex's long tenure. They have always thrashed their opponents apart, fresh in everyone's mind is 8-2 win over Arsenal; but on Sunday, Red Devils found out what it is to be a victim.
Blue half of Manchester have spent over 400 million pounds to build this galactico team and they earned their right to be noisy tonight. One can say that it was not United's day and Manchester City flattered themselves with this kind of scoreline, keeping in mind that United were the better team in first half-hour and the game ended as a contest after 46 minutes with Jonny Evans' dismissal. After that, it was just a matter of how many, but there is no denying that City were far, far better team on the whole, and Robert Mancini for once got his tactics right and for once Fergie got it all wrong.
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