There's a new show in town. It's called 'Six and the City'

By Oliver Brett Right now, for Manchester United fans, the August afternoon when they watched the players they so adore put eight goals past Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny must seem an awfully long time ago. Less than two months later, on that same Old Trafford turf on which they had felt such adulation, they found themselves begging referee Mark Clattenburg to blow the final whistle and put them out of their misery. Manchester City were 5-1 up — yes at Old Trafford for heaven’s sake — thanks to a goal from that Spanish magician David Silva. But there was still enough injury time left for Silva to play in Edin Dzeko and make it six. One or two sharp shooters on Twitter coined it “Six and the City”. The rival team from across Manchester which United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has condescendingly referred to as “the noisy neighbours” are now favourites to lift the Premier League title this season. They hold a five-point lead over United and have a vastly superior goal difference. And with 33 goals chalked up in only nine matches, City are a very hot order at the moment. It’s hard to think of many teams in English football’s top flight who are going to have the defensive wherewithal to deal with them. [caption id=“attachment_115263” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Manchester City were 5-1 up — yes at Old Trafford for heaven’s sake — thanks to a goal from that Spanish magician David Silva. Getty Images.”] [/caption] There had been some conjecture before the game that City boss Robert Mancini, who needed only a draw to retain a two-point lead, might opt for restraint by operating with one striker and a five-man midfield. But he blew that hypothesis out of the water by using Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero up front. With Silva and James Milner also charging down the wings it was clear from the outset that Mancini was keen to lay down the gauntlet. Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has a theory that the easiest way to avoid conceding goals is to keep the ball and create lots of chances. That way, he feels, there simply isn’t sufficient time for your opponents to carve out the opportunities they need. More simply put, he’s an advocate of the old adage that the best form of defence is attack. Though his team is a long way from matching either the style or success of Guardiola’s Barca, Mancini’s realised that it suits the most gifted personnel in his side if they are allowed to commit themselves as much as possible to the task of putting the ball in their opponents’ net. Of course, it is not quite as simple as that, and it must be added that Milner and Silva did their fair share of tracking back to tackle. Manchester United’s main threat is down the flanks, with Ashley Young and Nani able to deliver devastating crosses when given half a chance to do so. But City’s full backs Micah Richards and Gael Clichy were in such tremendous form to counter the United wingers that Ferguson’s men rarely got a chance to return fire with fire. Talking of fire, Mancini must have worried about playing Balotelli at all, given that he’d almost burnt down his house when letting loose some fireworks a couple of nights before the big match. But his manager is prepared, at the moment, to put up with the off-field eccentricities because the stuff he delivers on the park is pretty good at the moment. And on Sunday, it included the most delightfully composed finish for the City opener. Early in the second half, the hopelessly outclassed Jonny Evans was sent off after some astonishingly lazy work that forced him to haul down Balotelli with the young Italian striker clean through on goal. Having already begun to pour pressure on 11 United players, against 10 the match swiftly turned into a no-contest. It’s worth considering, though, what might have happened if Ferguson still had Paul Scholes was still around to calm things down in midfield. However, for all the evidence put in front of us, only a fool would suggest City will now stroll to their first English championship since 1968. When it comes to next spring, the three points garnered here won’t be any more valuable than any win against a team like Bolton or Blackburn. At some point, they could be hit by injuries or simply run through some bad form. And although, with their vast financial outlay, they have some serious bench strength to fall back on, City might need to grind out an ugly draw away from home rather than slip to a pretty 4-3 defeat. As for United, there’s a chance – though no more than that – that Ferguson might start to prioritise the Champions League over the Premier League. He’s only won Europe’s biggest prize twice in his long tenure at United, compared to 12 EPL titles. And what about Chelsea? Despite a surprise defeat at QPR this weekend, they’re certainly not out of the running for either trophy.