Do Man U have any chance at Etihad?

31 October 2014 - 08:57 By Mark Ogden © The Daily Telegraph
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SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: Louis van Gaal, left, says he is immune to Jose Mourinho's mind games.
SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: Louis van Gaal, left, says he is immune to Jose Mourinho's mind games.
Image: GETTY IMAGES

It was once the game that Manchester United never lost, but it has now become the fixture that they cannot win.

When Louis van Gaal's United travel to Manchester City on Sunday for the 168th Manchester derby, they will make the 8km journey across town as underdogs - outsiders in a two-horse race that had become an insignificance for the red half of the city.

United's dramatic late fightback against Chelsea on Sunday showed signs that Van Gaal is beginning to banish the gloom of David Moyes's disastrous 10-month reign as manager.

This Sunday's game offers a true test of United's progress, and the harsh reality is that they are still not ready for the examination they will face at the Etihad Stadium.

But City have those games when Yaya Toure goes missing, when Vincent Kompany dives in once too often, when David Silva fails to have an impact, when Joe Hart's judgment goes awry.

But they tend not to have the bad days against United, and City's dominance of the fixture is perhaps the truest gauge of how far the balance of Mancunian power has shifted to blue.

In the past 167 derbies, United have come out on top more than City. The reds have secured 69 wins and suffered 48 defeats, so United are the traditional power in the city and their honours list reflects this.

But gone are the days when United would treat the Manchester derby as an easy way to collect six points.

When City inflicted a 5-1 defeat on United at Maine Road in September 1989, it ultimately became the last vestige of pride for City supporters during a traumatic decade defined by the glory of their bitter rivals at Old Trafford. In the 16 derbies that followed this defeat, United won 10 and drew six.

As their stranglehold tightened, Sir Alex Ferguson's team romped to eight successive victories - a run which was only halted by City's relegation to the Championship and then into the third tier in 1998.

But with Kevin Keegan's City finally ending their barren run against United in November 2002, when Shaun Goater's goals secured a 3-1 home win at Maine Road, the tide began to turn for City.

They learned how to win derbies, United began to travel across town with trepidation. The Etihad became a place where United suffered as many bad days as good. But City have now gone one further and started to dominate the fixture as United did during the 1990s.

Of the last six league derbies, City have won five and lost just one. They also won the title decider in April 2012, when Kompany's goal tilted the race in City's favour.

So when United head to the Etihad on Sunday, they will do so having lost the secret to derby success. Even if Van Gaal has a fit Wayne Rooney and a Michael Carrick able to return to the team, United still appear too frail defensively to worry City.

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