Disappointing derby defeat not the end of the world

Today's defeat over the road will no doubt come as a tremendous disappointment to any City fan. Though questions will be asked about the timekeeping of the officials i think we need to take the positives from a game that very nearly resulted in a very credible point. Last year's defeat there was an absolute damp squib, at least today we gave them a game and there are enough encouraging signs for us to be optimistic about our chances this year, in my opinion.

I don't think we should look to make excuses, we were beaten by a better team, it's as simple as that. Missing your best players is unfortunate, but those who came in played very well, we were just a touch short. Sad as the defeat is we've gone there and given them a real fright, not many sides will go to Old Trafford and score three goals. We've defended like headless chickens at times, but so have they, just they've been fortunate to put away a final chance.

The thing that annoys me most, and it's been the same for months and months, is that we concede bad and needless goals. You accept that some teams will score, but we prove time and time again that we've not even got the basics right. Our full-backs constantly fail to press their wingers, leading to soft goals conceded in the air, and our centre-halves, good as they've been, seem to suffer lapses in concentration more than most. They're good defenders, all of them, but they seem to lack the discipline to stay switched on, and whereas the opposition in recent weeks perhaps haven't been good enough to catch us out, United were.

The most pleasing aspect of today was the performance of Craig Bellamy. He's proving that if kept fit he can be a vital player for us. On signing last January he really gave us the impetus to put a good run together, and he's played very well in his last three games, and is arguably doing enough to keep his place in the side over more high-profile team-mates. Some were a bit surprised we went for him, and were quite vocal about him being well down the pecking order following the summer arrivals, but when the going gets tough he's amongst the first to step up to the plate, and it's nice to see. Chinning a pitch invader also earns him brownie points.

Two home games now should give us opportunity to get back on track. The League Cup tie could prove a welcome break after a busy early season league schedule, and if we attack as well as we did today then we should see off Fulham, though we won't be underestimating them, they're a very good side and battered us on our own patch last year. West Ham will also be tricky, but you'd fancy us to beat most sides at Eastlands. Hopefully the two fixtures will enable the defence to settle back down after conceding six goals in just over a week.

A defeat was always going to come at some point, at least it was one in which we fought valiantly rather than a bit of a mauling. Sloppy defending has cost us a point, but overall we have to be pleased with twelve points from our opening five fixtures, and the improvement overall is there for all to see. A minor setback, nothing more.

Team:
Given, Richards, Bridge, Toure, Lescott, de Jong (Petrov '83), Barry, Ireland, SWP, Tevez, Bellamy