They say the romance of the FA Cup is dead, but it was alive and well during an absolutely riveting Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium.
Five goals, a quite ludicrous red card, the return of two old hands and a valiant attempt at what would have been an unbelievable comeback; this one had it all.
Man of the moment Wayne Rooney put the recent speculation about his future to nod United ahead with a splendid header early on, but the game turned on its head after Vincent Kompany was sent off for a tackle on Nani shortly after.
Kompany went in with two feet, but they were firmly planted on the ground and he won the ball without one word of complaint from the Portuguese. Perhaps influenced by a raging Rooney, referee Chris Foy reached for a red card and City were down to ten men.
Whether the red card was merited or not is debatable – we didn’t think so – but you can judge for yourself aft having a look at the video below.
With an extra man, United took control and were three up at the break thanks to a spectacular volley from Danny Welbeck and another from Rooney, who headed to the net after his initial penalty was saved.
United fans were beginning to think about inflicting revenge on their noisy neighbours for the 6-1 defeat earlier in the season, but soon found themselves hanging on for dear life.
Aleksandar Kolarov got the comeback rolling for City with a great free-kick and then Sergio Aguero pulled another one back after a mistake from Paul Scholes, who announced his comeback from retirement earlier today.
Scholes was an extremely shaky presence while on the pitch and United were very nearly punished for an extremely nervy performance in the second half. In the end, United hung on, but the end of the game brought the bizarre sight of both sets supporters celebrating wildly – United fans because they had won the game and City supporters because they were claiming a moral victory of sorts.
In any case, it was an absolutely enthralling encounter at Etihad Stadium; maybe the magic of the Cup isn’t dead after all.
