Mark Hughes used to be a beneficiary of Fergie’s stopwatch. In April 1993, the Welshman was part of the United squad that beat Sheffield Wednesday in the 96th minute to virtually seal the first of eleven Premier League titles for Sir Alex.   The following season, with United seemingly heading for an FA Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic, Hughes stepped up to volley home an equalizer, though not quite as late. It forced a replay which United went on to win 4-1 before completing the first League and Cup double for Alex Ferguson.   In the recent Manchester derby however, with Hughes in the opposition’s dug-out, he was on the receiving end and left to bemoan a late United sucker-punch in the form of Michael Owen’s winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

A lot of disgruntled fans and media observers will lament the amount of late goals United have scored to rescue themselves over the years. But its no coincidence they keep doing it. It takes a special mentality and ability to conjure the courage to keep playing and believing you can score before the final whistle.

There was nothing to stop Manchester City from winning the ball and going up the other end and scoring a winner – United’s defence were feeling awfully charitable on the day. But in closing out the final stages with the clash locked at 3-3, City were ragged and desperate in trying to cling on to what they had.

 

Most teams, when a game goes into injury time, mentally switch off and convince themselves to relinquish the courage they showed throughout the previous 90 minutes.

City were guilty of easing up and had no intention of attacking. Instead of having the nerve to control proceedings they were hoping the referee’s whistle would come to their rescue.   In truth, City’s goal was bombarded throughout the second half and they were fortunate to still be in the game so late on. They fought back well after an early set-back to shade the first 45 minutes, but surrendered the initiative and were totally dominated.   It exposed there weakness at the back, and despite an expensively assembled defence, they looked very vulnerable from set plays. An interesting fact that arose from their line-up was that three out of City’s four defenders played for England in that infamous 3-2 defeat by Croatia nearly two years ago. Perhaps from a defensive viewpoint at least, City are not as formidable as they should be.

Looking at the bigger picture, however, the club’s aspirations and the heights they want to reach are not going to be decided by what happens at Old Trafford. They were still only seconds away from a draw, and most other top teams would almost certainly have settled for a point before kick-off.

But if Hughes wants to challenge the top four and experience what its like to snatch dramatic winners again, City need to learn how to play out time and instead of complaining, embrace and accept the challenge of deciding a game so late in the day.