Or so it was called by Sir Alex Ferguson. Strange since he had said otherwise not more than a week back. He felt United's matches against Liverpool were the "real derby" while against City it was just another match.
But we have to take his word for it. This has by far been the greatest Manchester Derby ever. The game was flooded with headlines - Tevez's return to OT, Owen celebrating as one with Stretford End, the time added on, Foster's mistakes, Given's miraculous saves, Rooney's scoring streak... it just didn't end.
Of the many talking points, here are few that really leaves one pondering.
1. City are serious title contenders.
City did on Sunday what Champions have done always. Manchester United made 3 defensive errors in all of the 100 minutes played on the weekend. City scored 3 goals. And I bet you this, Craig Bellamy will not top of the pecking order when all strikers are fit. There is quality all over the park. There is depth on the bench. They almost pulled off a result without coming within a country mile of what their capable of. And there are a hungry bunch of lads (except Tevez, Bridge, Robinho and Sylvinho) who have not won any trophy of note with any team.
The pace at which this team hits you on the counter attack is awe inspiring and the Top 4 are under serious threat by the riches being brought in by the Arabs. Now what is left to see is their ability to bounce back from a bad result. That is what Chelsea and United have done exceedingly well for the last 5 seasons, and it is here where Liverpool faltered and lost the championship to United in 2008-09.
2. Sir Alex remains one of the shrewdest managers of all time.
There are two reasons to back this argument. One, there is no stadium in the world where the match would have ended in the 97th minute after 4 minutes of allotted time. The referee's reasoning was that City took 1 and 1/2 minutes to celebrate their goal and then a further 30 seconds for a substitution. But there was no doubt that it was Fergie whispered these sweet nothings into the referee's ears so that extra time was given. Arsene Wenger calls this Old Traffordish.
Two, Sir Alex was right to have not insisted on Tevez staying. There is no doubt, if Sir Alex wanted Tevez to stay, things would have worked out a while back and there would have been no drama of the summer transfer season with Tevez going to the dark side of Manchester. Berbatov showed Tevez "how to trap a ball and keep it while your teammates get there". Tevez just couldn't do that. He was at his harassing best and produced a goal from it (City's first equaliser), but could not hold on when surrounded by the United defenders while Berbatov took kicks, shoves and a lot but kept hold of the ball even though he was surrounded by 3 defenders at a time. Also, Tevez can't dream of finishing the way Owen can. Both of them were presented with similar chances on either end. Tevez managed to find the post, Owen the back of the net. Michael Owen, welcome to Manchester.
3. Giggs can still play... for a few years.
Years fell like dead skin as Ryan Giggs showed what a masterclass he still is. He provided 3 assists and if Berbatov's finishing was slightly better, he would have provided at least 2 more. Even United's first goal was largely thanks to him picking up Evra's cunning run. Sir Alex will want to clone this man just to have a younger version who can do the same work for many years to come. There are many players that people call living legends, but Ryan Giggs is truly above everyone. His reading of the game and ability to execute is unparalleled and in Sir Alex has the perfect manager, who will save him for the big games so he can be at his very best when it matters the most.
Having taken all this in, I am very happy about the fact that my United is coming back to its haunting best. They played some appalling and boring football last year (although they won a lot, so who's complaining?). Sunday was an example of how they played in the year they won the Champions League. Hopefully this is just a sign of things to come.
Until then, bring in the beers.
