Alex Ferguson hopes Manchester Uniteds 4-3 derby victory on Sunday will silence noisy neighbor Manchester City. What was meant as a jibe by Ferguson,though,City manager Mark Hughes took as a sign of the clubs growing stature since being bought a year ago by an Abu Dhabi Sheikh. City rallied three times on Sunday until Michael Owen produced a winner for United six minutes into stoppage time. So Hughes side left Old Trafford with nothing after a week of bluster from the newly emboldened blue half of Manchester,which has lavished more than $300 million on new players in 12 months. There has been a lot of expectation on Manchester City and with the spending they have done they have to win something, said Ferguson,who has been in charge at United since 1986. Its unusual for us to accept that theyre the top dogs in terms of media attention but you know,sometimes you have a noisy neighbor and have to live with it. You cant do anything about them if they keep on making noise but what we can do,as we showed today,is you can get on with your life,put your television on and turn it up a bit louder. As far as the players are concerned,they showed their playing power and thats the best answer of all. Hughes dismissed Fergusons assertion that United chasing a fourth straight title could have won the 152nd derby 6-0 had it not been for defensive and goalkeeping calamities. They are certainly aware of us now. Maybe in recent seasons it was less a game of significance, Hughes said. To suggest that they were six or seven goals better than us was completely wrong. Wayne Rooney had fired United in front inside two minutes,but goalkeeper Ben Fosters blunder gifted Gareth Barry an equalizer. A pair of Darren Fletchers headers were canceled out by Craig Bellamy,but there was no time for a response after Owens cool stoppage-time finish when,according to Hughes,the game should already have ended. Hughes seized on Fergusons euphoria following Owens match-winner as evidence of his former managers anxiety and fears about the threat City will pose backed by Sheikh Mansours wealth. They did seem quite excitable at the end of the game, Hughes said. It was reminiscent of (former assistant manager) Brian Kidd and Sir Alex in days gone by and I saw (captain) Gary Neville running on like a lunatic as well. So it showed how much it meant to them. Its something well take out of the game. We knew we could come here and compete against the United.
