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Manchester United bounced back from last week's defeat at the hands of Wolves in quite incredible fashion, as they defeated Manchester City in a strongly-contested Manchester derby to extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League table. Nani reached double digits for the season, scoring in the first half after surging past Pablo Zabaleta and slotting the ball past Joe Hart, City brought themselves back on level terms through a David Silva goal on 65 minutes, which honestly the Spaniard knew little about. However, the Citizens were confined to another close loss at Old Trafford as Wayne Rooney shrugged off his poor form to net his 5th goal of the season with a brilliantly taken acrobatic bicycle kick. The win took the Red Devils to 57 points, seven ahead of second-placed Arsenal (who play later in the day), while City lost a chance to clinch bragging rights in Manchester, and more importantly, squandered an opportunity to move above the Gunners into second spot.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson gave more indication that he prefers the extra man in midfield in big games, as he left league top-scorer Dimitar Berbatov on the bench, opting to play his team in a 4-5-1 formation. It had been confirmed earlier in the week that with England skipper Rio Ferdinand and the faltering Jonny Evans out through injury, Chris Smalling would start alongside Nemanja Vidic, and so he did, with Patrice Evra and John O'Shea making up the back-four for the hosts, Rafael da Silva, a consistent performer this season was surprisingly left out. Darren Fletcher recovered from his niggle to start in a three-man midfield alongside Paul Scholes and Anderson, while Ryan Giggs and Nani played as advanced wingers, providing support for Wayne Rooney who played up front on his own.

Roberto Mancini had kept his cards close to his chest in the lead-up to the match regarding the constitution of his team, and made a couple of surprise picks in his starting eleven. Joe Hart continued in goal, with Joleon Lescott partnering Vincent Kompany in the heart of the City defence, Kolo Toure being left out of the line-up. Pablo Zabaleta and Micah Richards played as full-backs, with Jerome Boateng left out and Aleksandar Kolarov playing in the left side of midfield. Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure played in the center of midfield, while James Milner found a place in the team ahead of Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right wing. David Silva played off Carlos Tevez upfront, as new signing Edin Dzeko was left on the bench.

The game started in a fashion completely contrasting the drab reverse fixture between the two teams, as the away team came close to breaking the deadlock within four minutes after a neat bit of interplay between Tevez and Yaya Toure. David Silva was slipped through by the Argentinian, sidefooting past Van der Sar from close range with a small target to aim at, with the red side of Manchester collectively breathing a sigh of relief as the ball rolled past the upright. United soon had a flurry of corners, but they came to nothing, with City, and especially Micah Richards, looking solid in defence. Manchester City had slightly more of the possession, but scarcely troubled Van der Sar, while the Red Devils created more chances, coming close through Nani's shot which fizzed past the crossbar, and a Fletcher header which came straight to Hart who collected gleefully.

Nani posed the biggest attacking threat to City, and it was he who got the opener 41 minutes into the game to send the home team in leading at half-time. The breakthrough came from a Van der Sar long ball, which Rooney headed onto Ryan Giggs. The Welsh winger played a beautiful first-time ball into Nani's path, the Portuguese international beating his marker for pace and making no mistake in slotting the ball past Hart.

The second half started with both teams pressing for possession, as the ball moved from side to side, with City surprisingly getting a lot of space to run at the United defence from their right. Mancini, seeing this as a sign, brought on the speedy Shaun Wright-Phillips for Kolarov, and replaced James Milner with Bosnian Edin Dzeko, as they pushed for an equaliser. Soon enough, the equaliser came, with the two substitutes heavily involved, though the goal had a hint of good fortune about it. Wright-Phillips got down the right wing well before delivering a low cross that Edin Dzeko miscued while shooting, only to see the ball bounce off David Silva's back into the goal.

The game started getting very open, as the home side brought on their top-scorer Dimitar Berbatov to provide another option in attack, with Rooney struggling to see any meaningful possession of the ball. A goal from the England forward was long overdue, having had an indifferent season. He soon made up for that with possibly one of the frontrunners for goal of the season. Paul Scholes found Nani on the right, whose cross stood up to the far post, with Rooney meeting it with a stunning overhead kick to send the ball flying past a helpless Hart. The goal was a blinder, reminiscent of the one Berbatov had scored against Liverpool earlier in the season, sending the United fans in raptures.

With United in the driving seat, they played some good keep-ball, as City tried to push more bodies forward in a desperate attempt to salvage a point, but to no avail. The Red Devils held their nerve to win the three points, which extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points, and lifted them eight points clear of their city rivals, who left the stadium with nothing to show for their spirited efforts. Now, eight points adrift with an extra game played, City's title hopes are effectively almost done and dusted, as it would take a miracle for Arsenal and Manchester United to drop enough points to give the Eastlands outfit a look-in.

Next-up for the Red Devils is a home FA Cup tie against non-league side Crawley Town, after which have their Champions League last sixteen away trip to Marseille. Manchester City, on the other hand, will travel to Greece to play Aris Saloniki on Tuesday, before returning to the City of Manchester stadium to face Notts County in their FA Cup replay.

Teams:

Manchester United (4-4-2) - Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, Evra, O'Shea, Fletcher, Anderson (Berbatov 67'), Scholes (Carrick 79'), Giggs, Nani, Rooney

Manchester City (4-4-1-1) - Hart, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Richards, Barry, Y. Toure, Kolarov (Wright-Phillips 52'), Milner (Dzeko 61'), Silva, Tevez

Final Scoreline:·Manchester United 2 - 1 Manchester City

Manchester United Scorers - Nani 41', Rooney 78'
Manchester City Scorer - Silva 65'

Read the full match commentary

Also Read: Arsenal 2-0 Wolves

File Photograph Copyright:·Barry Zee