By TIM RICH
Sir Alex Ferguson calls the City of Manchester Stadium "the Temple of Doom", but as the final whistle sounded, the analogy was with another Indiana Jones film. Could we be witnessing his last crusade?
The first Manchester derby at Eastlands ended like the last at Maine Rd, with a 4-1 victory to Manchester City.
In November 2002, Ferguson threatened to throw open the dressing-room doors and have his supporters tell the team how far they had fallen.
That defeat proved a catalyst for a remarkable fightback, but then there were six months of the season remaining.
Now a little over six weeks are left, and the championship has been as good as surrendered.
Even finishing second might prove a struggle.
In retrospect, it seems obvious that Arsenal have been the premiership's best team for three years and that Manchester United managed to take back the championship only through a vehement act of will which this season has been entirely absent.
Ferguson has rebuilt many teams, but you wonder whether, at the age of 62, he has the appetite to do it again.
At halftime, there was a feeling that Manchester United might claw this game back after falling two goals behind.
They were the better side before the interval, and a strike conjured by the old firm of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes brought to mind the 1993 derby, when United conceded two goals but somehow fashioned a 3-2 victory.
Then, however, they were driven by Roy Keane and Eric Cantona.
Yesterday, there was nobody in a red shirt with that all-consuming desire to win.
Yet the expected storm did not materialise. This may have been because at halftime Kevin Keegan corrected City's one glaring weakness - that Richard Dunne, one of the most ponderous defenders in the premiership, was up against the lightning feet of Cristiano Ronaldo, who had struck the post and the crossbar before the interval.
City switched to a 3-5-2 formation, where the Irishman was happier, and the game was settled when Mikael Silvestre, who, understandably given United's defensive frailties, had probably been rushed back too soon, failed to control a routine ball. Trevor Sinclair darted in and slid his shot under Tim Howard.
From the City dug-out, Keegan began a manic dash down the touchline, similar to the one by Jose Mourinho when Porto equalised at Old Trafford.
Three-one would have been a neat scoreline, mirroring the outcome of the final derby at Maine Rd. But Ferguson had another humiliation to endure.
Shaun Wright-Phillips had overflowed with energy and commitment, and now in the final moments he went tearing down City's right flank.
Wes Brown stood off him and saw a shot hurtle down from the crossbar and over the line.
Ferguson thought that had United shown patience after the interval they might have won the game.
Instead, they forced themselves forward to no great effect and left a fragile back four fatally exposed to counter-attacks.
"There's no doubt about it, it was sloppy defending and it has been like that for two months, to be honest," the United manager reflected.
"Even with simple defending, when it comes to clearing your lines and getting the ball out, there was too much hesitancy.
"I don't think we are defending realistically. In trying to pass the ball out of the box we are not attacking the ball like we were a couple of months ago."
A couple of months ago, Rio Ferdinand was at the heart of United's back four.
Since his suspension, that back four has conceded 20 goals in 10 matches.
His appeal against his eight-month suspension for missing a drugs test opens on Thursday and Ferguson said he was expecting "a far fairer assessment of the situation than we got last time".
Well though United performed, especially before the interval, the old defensive fault lines kept opening and swallowing them up.
The cracks appeared with three minutes not yet on the clock.
Given his choice of clubs - Liverpool, Leeds United and now Manchester City - Robbie Fowler would expect to be thoroughly disliked by United supporters, and he increased his demonic status by being the first to react to a throw headed on by Antoine Sibierski.
Fowler's pace may have dissolved, but in the box, his brain is still quicker than most and, reaching the ball before either Brown or Phil Neville, he took two touches to beat Howard.
Jon Macken, a discarded product of United's youth system, extended the advantage.
Half the stadium was appealing for hand-ball as Claudio Reyna's shot struck Scholes' arm, but Macken seized on the rebound to spark a wave of delirium.
This was only Manchester City's third home win at Eastlands, and Keegan thought it more satisfying than the derby victory at Maine Rd 16 months ago.
"We needed to lift the ghost of this stadium. When you have won only two games here, you start to believe there is something wrong with the stadium, rather than with you. We have lifted the curse."
- INDEPENDENT
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