Linkin Park

Two of City's heroes today have given their thoughts following the 2-1 derby day victory at Old Trafford. The ever-impressive Didi Hamann said: "We worked ever so hard today and didn't give them much space when they went forward. Every time one of our players lost the ball another player covered and won it back.

"We know how good they are going forward and to restrict them to one goal and a handful of chances throughout the 90 minutes showed how well we defended today."

And after a debut goal from Benjani saw City go 2-0 up just before half time, Didi hailed the Zimbabwean's first outing for the Blues.

"He's done ever so well. He kept the ball well and worked hard. When we put the ball in the channels he was always chasing it and won a few free-kicks.

"He scored a great goal and it was a great debut for him."

It was a commanding performance too from skipper, Richard Dunne, despite almost missing the game through illness.

He summed it up afterwards 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."