(Here’s An Idea) How About More Of Me & Less Of You

Such a game, and such a lot to come from it, that it's hard to know quite where to begin, so I'll take a bit of a scattergun approach to the papers. Starting with Graham Poll. Graham Poll is an ex-referee who writes a column on refereeing. So why does he know so little? Here's his take on the added time, showing why it was a good thing he wasn't in charge:

I struggled to see where the additional, additional time came from which enabled United to score the winner. Alan Wiley, the fourth official showed the time allowed - as decided by Atkinson - as four minutes, which I felt was reasonable given the substitutions and number of goals.

There was one further substitution in the time allowed, Carrick for Anderson, for which 30 seconds is usually allowed. I therefore expected the final whistle at 94.30, as did Mark Hughes.

The Owen winning goal was timed at 95.28 and so I could fully understand the City boss’s frustration. When you’ve worked so hard to come back three times and feel that you’ve earned a point in a key match it must be galling to concede such a goal.

One thing - there was a goal as well Graham. Would you like it broken down for you? Luckily The Independent do precisely that:

*Fourth official Alan Wiley indicates a minimum four minutes added time.

*Under Premier League rules, the referee can play four minutes plus 59 seconds.

*City score an equaliser – the referee, Martin Atkinson, can add 60 seconds for celebration and restart (Hughes admits it took 45 seconds for play to resume).

*United's Anderson is replaced by Michael Carrick – the referee can add 30 seconds for a substitution.

*In these circumstances, Atkinson is entitled to add two minutes, 29 seconds to the original four minutes.

*Substitute Michael Owen scores for United to win the game on 95 minutes, 25 seconds – well within the allotted time.

Is there not an ex-referee around who knows what he's talking about who can replace Graham Poll in The Mail? I'm used to him talking nonsense, but to be factually inaccurate is really something else. Casting aside anything else, for an ex-referee to write on that without pointing out that added time is always a minimum time to be added seems like dereliction of duty.
On the same subject, Mark Hughes' sour grapes on the issue are perhaps understandable, never pleasant to be on the losing side of such a dramatic finish, but to jump on the refs-are-biased-at-Old-Trafford bandwagon is a bit disappointing coming from one of our ex-players:

“I was in teams here who had that benefit and never thought it was an issue,” he said. “When I played here I thought we had a bad time by referees, but since I left I have changed my view. I’m not going to question the referee’s integrity. I just want an explanation. I just can’t see where he got that time.”

I may as well get the rest of the rubbish out of the way while I'm on. Martin Samuel writes this strange paragraph:

On Sunday they lost, but as equals. Do not be fooled by Manchester United's domination of the second half. United can safely expect to dominate every game at home, regardless of the opposition.

Why didn't he just go the whole hog and say "Ignore the facts, I'll write what suits me..."
Matt Lawton continues The Mail's policy of having their writers wear blinkers, writing:

there were times when United were second-best ... For long periods City were the better team in crucial areas

There were I admit ten minutes before half-time when we let City into the game, and they looked dangerous, whether we were ever second-best I'd dispute, and "for long periods?" I really don't think so - for a period, might be better, considering we absolutely dominated everything all second half (brief game stats - possession -59% to us; shots, 18 to 8 in our favour; 11 corners to their 1). I will accept The Independent's, "City had a period of dominance at the end of the first half."
Sense from Henry Winter:

For all the clock-watching frenzy, the bitter truth for Hughes is that United deserved victory. After a summer of scepticism about how they would cope without Cristiano Ronaldo, the champions have responded with the attacking brilliance of Rooney, the ageless grace and guile of Giggs, the hungry running of Patrice Evra and some authoritative midfield displays from Darren Fletcher. And Owen’s threat from the bench. ...
then came the hammer blows to City’s pride, first from Owen and then Ferguson, with his comment that this result might quieten their “noisy neighbours’’. Ferguson needn’t have bothered. For all City’s promise under Hughes, United showed they remain the big noise in Manchester. Thanks to Owen. He who laughs last, laughs loudest.

And it comes to something when Alan Hansen talks more sense than some, especially as in other places Sir Alex is criticised for suggesting we could have won by 6:

Sir Alex Ferguson suggested after the game that United could have won by six or seven, but they should have won by 10. I have never seen such a one-sided second-half.

Praise for Giggs and Owen from Kevin Garside:

when he [Giggs] plays as he did after the break he is elevated into Leo Messi class, even though slowed by his near 36 years. He put in both crosses for Fletcher's headed goals and picked out Owen beautifully in the final seconds. ...
To execute as he did in a setting as febrile as this confirms Owen in the rank of genius as it applies to goalscoring. His awareness of space remains preternatural, his first touch assured and the finish unerring. The pass from Ryan Giggs was a demonstration of excellence all its own. But only a striker of the highest calibre could have made use of it as Owen did. Sixteen seconds on and the match was over and Owen was the latest entry in a history as rich as any in the domestic game.

Nice summary by Oliver Kay is ruined by nonsense at end:

It was a basket-case of a game, with Manchester United’s self-destructive streak allowing their neighbours to peg them back three times before the knockout punch was finally administered by Michael Owen, prompting Craig Bellamy to aim a punch of his own at a pitch invader.

The ensuing celebrations all but lifted the roof off Old Trafford and, as Gary Neville, a non-playing substitute, sprinted down the touchline to bait the silenced visiting supporters, you were left to wonder whether this fixture might have become, over the course of the afternoon, the one that matters most to United.

A winning goal six minutes into injury time is pretty likely to "lift the roof" off any stadium, regardless of opposition... A fact someone should also tell Mark Hughes:

“They did seem quite excitable at the end of the game. It was reminiscent of Brian Kidd and Sir Alex in days gone by. And I saw Gary Neville running on like a lunatic as well, so it showed how much it meant to them. It’s something we’ll take out of the game. We knew we could come here and compete against the United of today.

Daniel Taylor juxtaposes Owen and Tevez:

Here was the man who had been brought in to replace Tévez and, with his first chance, his finish was unerring. Some of the City players sunk to the ground in despair. Tévez simply stood and stared. It was a moment of classic United.

It will not need to be pointed out to the Old Trafford crowd that this was the same end at which Tévez had squandered his one big chance of the afternoon. Tévez, one imagines, could find himself breaking into a cold sweat when he recalls that moment, in the last attack of the first half, when the ball was at his feet inside the penalty area and, unchallenged, his shot flicked off the outside of the post. It was the kind of miss that could be used as evidence to back Ferguson's claims that the striker was simply not worth the unspecified, but undoubtedly huge, fee that City had paid for him.

Richard Williams just cannot let it lie, and after a thrilling game is still to be found harping on about Berbatov's alleged lack of work:

It was Berbatov whom Owen replaced with 13 minutes of yesterday's match remaining. In Ferguson's view, the Bulgarian could have had five goals during his time on the pitch. Neutrals would probably have settled for two, from the pair of powerful headers that drew tremendous saves from Given in the 65th and 68th minutes. Ferguson called it "a fantastic performance by Berbatov", but too often the £30m striker behaved as though he had been paying too much attention to the words attributed to Marlon Brando in response to a question about his acting technique: "Just because they shout 'action', it doesn't mean you have to do anything."

This was an all-action match, even when nothing much was happening for long stretches of the first half, and Berbatov gave the impression of allowing it to pass him by.

Onto the quotes and Sir Alex steals the show:

"It is unusual for us to accept they are the top dogs in terms of media attention. But sometimes you have a noisy neighbour. You have to live with it," said Fergie.

"You cannot do anything about that. They will always be noisy. As has been shown you have to get on with your life. You just have to put your television on and turn it up a bit louder. The players showed their form. That is the best answer of all.

"It was a fantastic performance. What the score could have been? We have made three horrendous mistakes. Mistakes you don't even half associate with this team. It kept them in the game.

"Every time we scored, we kept letting them into the game. If you do that, you can end up losing the game. Fortunately we got the break. Michael Owen has scored a fantastic winning goal and we deservedly won the game.

"The second half was magnificent. Absolutely outstanding. I am unhappy about the goals. It spoiled what could have been a really emphatic victory. We could have had six or seven.

"The fact we made those mistakes probably made it the best derby game of all time. What would you rather have, a 6-0 win or the greatest derby of all time. I would prefer to win 6-0."

Sir Alex on Owen:

“To be fair we noticed in the last two weeks he’s adjusted to training and has been sharper.
“He’s been really good in terms of the intensity of the training and he has got better and better. Even when he came on against Besiktas, he showed that sharpness.
“We were saying that we were going to have to get him on and get him game time because he’s been doing very well.” ...
“I felt the game would be in their box. There was no doubt about that in the last 20 minutes we sensed that and there is no one better than Michael Owen when that happens.”

Owen speaks:

asked whether that would confirm hero status with the Old Trafford faithful, Owen said: "Yes, if there was any doubt before then maybe.

"It was always going to create noise when I joined but even if the fans didn't take to me you're never going to pass up an opportunity to play for team like this." ...

He added: "We dominated and the lads played well for a lot of the game.

"There were individual mistakes but over the years before I was here the defence has been fantastic."

As does Fletcher:

"Everyone has been writing us off and the lads have responded," said two-goal Fletcher.

"Winning away at Tottenham, away at Besiktas and now winning the derby is a fantastic reply. It was a hard week in football terms and you cannot ask for much more than how we responded.

"We know how much quality we have got. We believe in the manager and we believe in the players in the dressing room. We look around the dressing room and you are happy to have those players in your team.

"People have questioned us but you have to use that in the right way and use it as a determination to prove people wrong. We have done that." ...

"After we scored it went a bit flat," admitted Fletcher. "It was a hot day and after they scored we seemed to lose it and got a bit disheartened which you cannot do in any game.

"We rallied round at half-time. In the second half it was a cooler temperature and it helped us.

"We came out all guns blazing in the second half and played the way we know we can and the way we should always be playing. That should be the standard we play at every week.

"The rally came from everyone. It came from the manager's half-time words, it came from the fans getting behind us and the players.

"If we want to win games we cannot afford to go through the motions as we did for large parts of the first half. But we got it together and deserved to win. City's goals came as a result of mistakes on our behalf which we are disappointed about but we showed great character to come back every time.

"It was nice to score two goals myself but the most important thing was the win. To have scored twice and only drawn the match would have been disappointing."