They stood shoulder to shoulder in ranks of blue; singing and screaming their full-throated delight. And none could deny them their celebrations. For after decades of brave failures and broken dreams, Manchester City were on the brink of delivering something wonderful.
And if those faithful City fans doubted the evidence of the Wembley pitch, then the face of Sir Alex Ferguson, depicted on the stadium screen, told its own bleak story. The Treble was gone, the FA Cup was at the mercy of his noisy neighbours, United had been deservedly beaten by the team on their Manchester doorstep.
Never has the Blue Moon anthem been bellowed with such triumphant glee. United had lost without distinction, their football devoid of shape or form, their performance stained by the second-half dismissal of the absurdly irresponsible Paul Scholes for a disgraceful, thigh-high assault on Pablo Zabaleta.
Blue Moon rising: City supporters celebrate reaching the FA Cup final
It was a tackle which may have finalised Scholes's retirement decision; certainly it cost United what little chance they had of salvaging the match.
Scholes's violent spasm also set the tone for an exchange of blows at the close, involving the United substitute Anderson and City's serial provocateur, Mario Balotelli. United captain Rio Ferdinand feltfoolishly compelled to join the scuffle and the guilty parties may now face FA punishment similar tothat suffered by Ferguson and Wayne Rooney.
Yet such ugly excursions should not obscure the fact of City's ascendancy. And it was perfectly expressed by the scorer of the only goal, the admirable Yaya Toure, who, alongside the likes of Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott, epitomised City's superiority.
And those remarkable fans were as deserving as the team they follow. They took their seats early, inspecting the premises, revelling in the pre-match pageantry, linking arms for a mass jig. The reds, by contrast, arrived late, with an air of weary familiarity. They know it so well, been so often. It's a kind of home from home, really.
Sir Alex was in his grandstand seat, chomping his gum, chattering on his phone to the United bench. He was enjoying a far better viewing point than normal thanks to his five-match penalty for criticising referee Martin Atkinson and his influence on events was not obviously diminished.
It seemed a strange kind of banishment. Rooney sat in tracksuit top and tie at the back of the bench, serving his own sentence for that famous profanity.
Watching brief: Rooney was forced to sit out due to suspension
They watched United come through a generally sluggish start to compose a pair of chances forDimitar Berbatov. They were chances so simple that Ferguson, far less Rooney, might have devoured them. Berbatov missed both.
The first emerged from a short, angled, passing move involving Michael Carrick and Scholes. The sharpness of the exchange dismantled City's defence but as Berbatov strode on to the chance,his shot hit the plunging Joe Hart.
Then, almost from the rebound, Nani flitted along the left and released a low invitation of a cross. Berbatov came plunging in, met the ball from perhaps two yards' range and somehow lifted it over the top. From his distant perch, Rooney clutched his head in his hands, perhaps cursing the idiocy which had cost him his place.
For most of this spell, City were an irrelevance. Important players like Toure and Adam Johnson wereflittering briefly, unable to shape events. It took 32 minutes to fashion City's first half-chance, when Gareth Barry hit the side netting. But then the opportunities began to flow. Within two minutes, Balotelli put his foot through the ball from 30 yards and drew an urgent save from Edwin van der Sar, then Lescott snatched at a volley from a corner.
The order of the match was changing and when Kompany conjured a drive just past a post, City wereenjoying a measure of command. That feeling was intensified within seven minutes of the second half.
Dilatory defending saw Van der Sar forced into a rare feeble clearance. As Carrick began to tidyup, he conceded the ball cheaply to Toure. From there, the move took on a life of its own. Toure pressed into the United area, strode past Nemanja Vidic, kept his head and guided his drive through the keeper's legs.
Party time: City are one game away from their first trophy under Roberto Mancini
The blue half of Wembley erupted in a violent clamour of delight. Hopes were soaring, all manner of possibilities were presenting themselves, a touch of delirium was in order. Then, when it seemed thatfortune could be no kinder, Scholes demonstrated the flash of cynical aggression which has marred his remarkable career.
A few minutes earlier, he had been the victim of a late but not malevolent tackle. Now, on almost the same spot at halfway, he thrust his studs into Zabaleta's thigh as the Argentinian sought to control a bouncing ball. The referee, Mike Dean, was in no doubt. The red card announced the end of Scholes's match and surely hastened the end of his professional career. At this stage, the drama of the contest had caused us to forget the shabbiness of the circumstances surrounding it.
The notion of playing at Wembley in order to qualify to play at Wembley has always seemed bizarre, and even the excuse that the stadium needs as many matches as it can stage smacks of expediency. But Saturday's sequence of events left an especially sour taste.
The chaos created by the closure of the M1 motorway was clearly no fault of the FA. But the decision to kick off at 5.15, therefore making it all but impossible for tens of thousands to return to Manchester after the match, was indefensible.
We hear that television insisted, which is apparently their right as the principal paymaster. No matter. The football authorities have a long and contemptible record of putting financial considerations far ahead of the welfare of their paying customers.
As they stumbled north, many with young children, the followers of City and United may have reflected that this latest insult is as shameless as any. Although, by that stage, the City fans may have ceased to care. Because, for once, the plot had been written in their favour. They filed away with dreams and songs to sing. And as they sang their bold songs, a gentle dusk fell. And a brave blue moon appeared over Wembley.
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?Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson, Paul Scholes, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Joe Hart, Nemanja Vidic, Adam Johnson, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Gareth Barry, Mike Dean, Edwin Van Der Sar, Nani, Michael Carrick, Mario Balotelli, Martin Atkinson Places: Manchester
Source: Daily Mail
Source: Daily Mail