MANCHESTER UNITED banged out a message last night that went far further than just across town to Eastlands.It reverberated all the way to Stamford Bridge, the Emirates and Milan - and anywhere else where people are gathered plotting the demise of Sir Alex Ferguson and his team:
WE ARE NOT FINISHED YET.
It has always seemed a strange conclusion to me that people have declared the Manchester War- Machine dead specially since United are fighting for the Premier League Title, Champions League and are in the Carling Cup Final- a record seventh for Ferguson.
Yet, despite all this, many football pundits, premier league followers and might I add a United fans had reservations about this latest United side. That they lacked some of the old ingredients that had kept the club at the top for so long.
That they were a one-man team. That, Wayne Rooney aside, they didn't have enough goals in them.
That Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher didn't quite have the star quality and on-field presence of some illustrious names of the past.
That the great nights were also over for Paul Scholes. And that Ryan Giggs could only keep running down that wing so many times a season. And, finally, that this was the evening when City, awash with their billions and infused with plans of world domination, would finally start to narrow the gap and finally become the bigger the club in town.
Well, there are I admit some, inherent truths in all these claims.
Sir Alex can deny all he want, but we have missed that little bit of spark Ronaldo provided, yes Valencia is a great winger and his crosses are simply stunning at times but the fact is he is nowhere as good as Ronaldo was and this has made ManUtd this season look a bit ordinary.
But the one undeniable fact is that this United side, like so many before, do not understand the meaning of surrender. Irrespective of whether they are on their game or not.
That Fergi has again fashioned a side in his image.
Defiant, unbowed, belligerent even, with Scholes leading a midfield rat pack of Carrick and Fletcher who slowly gnawed their way through to City's bones.
A side who never accept a cause to be lost and, above all, possess a manic determination and desire to see the game through to the last act.
To the very last scene. And, again last night, to the very last line.
And so it was that Rooney came up with the winner in the second of the three minutes added by Howard Webb.
How many times have United done this? How many times have they pulled a game out of the fire with flames threatening to engulf them?
How many times have they sent teams on their way from Old Trafford with nothing, players climbing aboard the team coach an hour or so after the final whistle scratching their heads as to how it actually happened?
So often now that it hardly comes as a surprise any more.
But United didn't just have to win it once last night, they had to do it twice. When Carrick added to Scholes' opener to put United 2-0 up after 71 minutes, it looked done and dusted. Even the City fans, so buoyant for so long, seemed to understand that the ship had been fatally holed below the water line.
And then, of course, little Carlito responded to the boos that had greeted his every touch on his return to Old Trafford with goal for City.
So United had to start all over again. Just as the city supporters began to feel a second City goal was written in the stars, that this one was pre-ordained, that the Berties would be going to Wembley for the first time since 1981.
And then there was Rooney, the cavalry coming over the hill just when the wagon train seemed beyond help, to head home the winner and start the chorus of "Glory, Glory, Man United."
What an end to an evening where over 400 extra police had been drafted in for the most hotlycontested Manchester derby in years.
We had had all the Tevez-Neville stuff, the moron and bootlicker accusations and Ferguson finally retaliating with claims the Argentine striker should have been sent off in the first leg.
And now there was the Ferdinand business as well, the England centre-half contesting a three-match ban for violent conduct against Hull. The fact United had decided against accepting the original punishment just showed how seriously Ferguson took last night's match - despite his claims that Sunday's match at Arsenal was the far greater priority.
As for City boss Roberto Mancini, the Italian had said he wanted to change the history of the club. Well, he'll have to wait a little longer.
And Garry Cook, the over-excited chief executive who insisted it was "when" rather than "if" City reached Wembley.
And what of Liam Gallagher, who claimed on the morning of the match: "Mancini is a far coolerlooking bloke than that Taggart fella across the road.
"He may be a top manager but he looks like a bin man."
Well, the old Scottish refuse collector was getting his best suit pressed this morning for another trip to Wembley while dapper Mancini was going back to his tailors.
And it's still 1976 since City won their last trophy.
And the "clock" banner on the far right of the upper tier of the Stretford End ticks on from 34 to 35 years. And United head for Arsenal for another title showdown with defiance in their face.
WE ARE NOT DONE JUST YET.
