United fans slam stupidity

From the first whistle, the atmosphere in the room grew tense and many fans sat with arms folded and eyes staring intently at the large projector screen.

The 60-odd crowd, most of whom were Manchester United fans, were too busy monitoring the game to bother about anything else. After all, it was the Manchester Derby and both teams were under pressure to win.

In the 39th minute, the EPL Mania event organised by The New Paper at Hard Rock Cafe came alive.

Chris Smalling's red card for a second bookable offence earned the ire of the Red Devils faithful, while the handful of City fans clapped and cheered the decision by referee Michael Oliver.

"It's not looking too good. We're one man down and there's 45 minutes to go," said United fan Thashalan Raveendran at half-time.

"But something like this was bound to happen, especially since we fielded such a bad team in the first place."

If there were one player who wasn't "bad", it was United goalkeeper David de Gea, who pulled off two superb saves in the first half.

"David de Gea was superb, making all those saves. But the only reason he stood out was because not many of his teammates were playing that well," said 42-year-old Dennis Khew.

In the end, it was the City who had the last laugh, as Sergio Aguero scored what proved to be the winner in the 63rd minute. "I thought it was a disappointing match," said 20-year-old Benjamin Toh.

"United more than held their own, but it was the moment of stupidity from Smalling that cost us the game."

It may not be the happy ending that United fans were looking for, but they gave the thumbs up for the EPL Mania event.

"The atmosphere was great, I really liked it. Very intense, very loud," said Thashalan.

Khew agreed, saying: "I'll definitely come back again.

"It's my second time here and the atmosphere has been excellent both times."

This article was first published on November 2, 2014.
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