Plenty to shout about

ROBERTO Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson went face–to–face as their teams went toe–to–toe tonight, and it was Manchester City who prevailed on a night of tension and drama at the Etihad Stadium.

Vincent Kompany grabbed the only goal as City, three weeks after apparently crashing out of the Barclays Premier League title race, turned up the heat on Manchester United to seize the initiative at the top.

The game may not have been the end–to–end thriller the build–up had suggested and an estimated TV audience of 400million had craved.

Yet with so much on the line, that was probably always too much to hope for.

What unfolded was still a compelling encounter with two great rivals slugging it out in the face of immense pressure.

That was never more in evidence than on the touchline as City boss Mancini and Reds manager Ferguson needed to be parted in the second half as tensions boiled over.

It took a little while to build to that crescendo, though, as this most hyped of encounters came to life only slowly.

The mood around the stadium was relaxed just an hour before kick–off and it was only with minutes to go that all the seats were taken up.

Yet with a football icon such as Diego Maradona in the crowd, and several TV news crews outside, there was no mistaking the size of the occasion.



The full version of thos story is in tonight’s print and eChron editions