Five minutes into the match and we have our first controversial call. Poor play by Joleon Lescott allows Dimitar Berbatov to nick the ball in a dangerous part of the pitch, but Manchester United's Bulgarian forward was promptly blocked off the ball and Manchester City's defence could scramble clear. That looked like a foul, but nothing doing according to referee Mike Dean.
Manchester United Vs. Manchester City, FA Cup Semi-Final: Neither Side Attacking, Dull Game Thus Far
So we’re rather back to square one here - slow passing play that builds up to nothing but totally pointless punts forward. One of these two teams would do well to even try to attack; their fear of being hit on the counter is obviously curtailing their more aggressive tendencies.
That said, City just came up with a quarter chance on a two-man attack, with Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli surging up the middle of the pitch. Balotelli outsped his marker and Toure’s throughball came very close to finding him, only for the ever-alert Edwin van der Sar to reach the ball just ahead of the Italian striker.
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