Mancini masterminds a revolution in Manchester

MANCHESTER CITY stunned the football world with their 6-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, and United manager Alex Ferguson admitted that the result was the worst of his 25-year reign. Unsurprisingly the football writers have been queuing up to have their say.

A changing of the guard?
The balance of power in Manchester is shifting says Matt Dickinson in The Times. "This was a humbling with a difference," he writes. "It was not just the 6-1 scoreline, although that was shattering enough. It was the even bigger humbling it may have foretold."

Paul Hayward in The Guardian observes that United face a mighty fall from grace: "The second-best side in Europe after their Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, United now face a struggle to be seen as the No 1 team in their own metropolis after their noisy neighbours made a grab for power."

All hail Roberto Mancini
Manchester City's Italian manager deserves plaudits for masterminding the victory. "No team score six at Old Trafford unless they are entirely in accord with the manager," says Martin Samuel in The Daily Mail. "This was a greater endorsement of Mancini, the man and his methods than any witness statement or dressing-room opinion.

Alex Ferguson has seen off 16 City managers during his time at United, but he may have met his match in Mancini, says Neil Custis in The Sun. "It is one thing having the players," he points out. "But it is quite another forging a spirit and style of play that produces probably the most stunning result in Premier League history."

So, how will Ferguson react?
He admitted that it was the "worst result in my history, ever," but refused to write off his side's title chances. The battle may have been lost, and lost badly, but the war is not over. "Ferguson will get the tin hat on, start the 'we're not favourites to win' line and they will now start just plugging away at City," predicts Mark Lawrenson at the BBC.

Neutrals enjoyed the spectacle
"United's ten men left the pitch like survivors from a disaster movie," commented Sam Wallace in The Independent. "Over Ferguson's 25 years, contenders have come and gone, but none have desecrated Old Trafford quite like this."

Fans of other sides revelled in the mayhem, says Oliver Holt in The Mirror. "It was the day when the team that has bullied the rest of the Premier League with the brilliance of its football and the size of its support since the early 90s felt what it was like to be humiliated.

"Everyone joined in the merriment. Liverpool fans, Spurs fans, Newcastle fans and particularly Arsenal fans, whose wounds are still raw and bleeding after United destroyed them 8-2 here eight weeks ago." ·