A Tale of Two Manchesters 双”曼城”记

Manchester City upset expectations 令人失望 on Sunday as they beat their local rivals Manchester United 1-2 at Old Trafford 老特拉福德.

The Manchester derby 两队都来自于同一城市 is always a spirited game but this match was especially emotional as it marked the 50th anniversary 50周年纪念 of the 1958 Munich air disaster, when eight Manchester United players were among 23 people killed in a plane crash.

A former Manchester City player was also killed in the accident.

Players and fans observed a minute's silence 默哀一分钟 before the game as a mark of respect 以示尊敬 to the Munich dead.

Although City had not beaten United at Old Trafford since 1974, a strike from Darius Vassel put City ahead after 25 minutes of the first half.

And a second goal from new City signing 签约球员 Benjani Mwaruwari, scoring on his debut 首次出场, put the game out of United's reach; although Michael Carrick managed to grab a consolation goal 安慰球 for United in injury time 伤时.

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson praised his team and their fans for the way they behaved before the match and for their performance on the field, describing them as "absolutely fantastic".

Eriksson rated 评价 goal-scorer Benjani’s performance "absolutely brilliant".

"When United have the ball, he works and works. I don't know how many kilometres he ran today," said Eriksson, praising Benjani's work ethic 职业理念.

City captain Richard Dunne said the result was a "nice boost" for the team, meaning that it will give them extra confidence 自信 for future games.

Manchester United played a below par 未能发挥真正水平 game by their own high standards, with assistant manager Carlos Queiroz blaming fatigue 疲劳 for his players' poor performance.

A number of United players, including Wayne Rooney, were involved in last week's England game against Switzerland.

Quieroz said he felt the team was "affected by international call-ups" (回国)代表国家队参赛 but he accepted that was a merely an excuse.

"We didn’t play well and need to accept that," said Queiroz, adding that individual players had failed to win their "duels" 比赛， 决斗 against City players.

The result is a setback 挫折 to United's title race – if Arsenal beat Blackburn on Monday night, they will be five points ahead at the top of the Premier League table.