A rainy weekend evening.
Man City hosted Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium.
On this rainy Manchester night, a Manchester derby in the FA Cup knockout stage clearly carried special significance.
Although Man City had made extensive changes to the lineup, with even Su Dong sitting on the bench, their overall strength remained outstanding. The team was also in excellent form. From the very start, they displayed overwhelming momentum, determined to take down Manchester United.
In front of Man City, the Red Devils had long since lost the bearing of Premier League champions.
Ferguson's team was forced onto the back foot from the opening whistle, but they still defended with remarkable tenacity.
What encouraged many Manchester United fans even more was that the long-absent Scholes had returned to the Manchester United bench.
The day before the match, Manchester United had suddenly announced Scholes's comeback. Ferguson immediately included him in the squad for the match against Man City, showing just how desperately he wanted Scholes back.
The rain itself restricted Man City's possession-based style, but tonight, Man City's enemies were not just the awful weather or Manchester United across from them. There was also the referee, Chris Foy.
Fifty-year-old Foy was a highly experienced referee, but he had begun struggling to keep up with the pace and intensity of Premier League matches.
Especially this season, he had repeatedly made serious refereeing errors.
For example, in the ninth round of the Premier League, Chelsea lost 1–0 away to Queens Park Rangers.
Why had they lost?
Because in the first half, Chris Foy had sent off both Bosingwa and Drogba in quick succession, then awarded Queens Park Rangers a penalty. That was how Queens Park Rangers had beaten Chelsea.
Not long ago, in the fifteenth round of the Premier League, Stoke City hosted