City soaring after rare Old Trafford win

Sven-Göran Eriksson said his side showed "the right spirit and the right attitude" after Manchester City FC won their first Old Trafford derby since 1974.

Famous victory
With Manchester United FC's performance seemingly overshadowed by the ceremonies which marked 50 years since the Munich air disaster, City seized the initiative on Sunday with goals from Darius Vassell and debutant Benjani Mwaruwari handing them their first win at Old Trafford since Denis Law struck the only goal of the game in April 1974 – and their first domestic double since the 1969/70 season.

Eriksson thrilled
"Six points against Manchester United in one season is very good," said Swedish coach Eriksson, who turned 60 last week. "Everyone belonging to City, the fans, players and directors, should be very proud of what they did here today. I think we deserved to win. We created more chances so we're very happy. It was a great result. I'm really proud of all the players and happy for the fans."

'We didn't play well'
United winger Ryan Giggs did not disagree. "They played better than us," said the former Welsh international. "Defensively we didn't play well. Attacking-wise, we just didn't turn up. There were a lot of players that didn't look as sharp and that may be the reason. But there was enough motivation for us – a massive game for the club, a derby and an important three points."

Gap growing
Having drawn 1-1 at Tottenham Hotspur FC in their last game, United will go five points behind the Premier League leaders if Arsenal FC beat Blackburn Rovers FC tonight, and Giggs feels that his side can afford no more slip-ups if they are to retain the title. "We probably can't afford to drop any more points now," he said. "We've got to make sure we don't produce any more performances like that."

'It's brilliant'
Meanwhile City, now seventh, can continue to dream of securing a UEFA Cup place for next season, with captain Richard Dunne saying: "It's brilliant. We've been disappointed with our last few performances and today we got stuck into them. We knew if we didn't put in a performance we'd be in trouble. We got the goals at the right time and in the second half we worked really hard."