Reds' rivals up & running

Memories of a fateful day in May abounded on Sunday afternoon when Manchester United's local rivals again won 3-2 at home - after again marking hard work of it against unfancied opponents.

Manchester City's opening match of 2012/13 - with Southampton at the Etihad Stadium - mirrored the remarkable closing 2011/12 clash with QPR in terms of the scoring pattern. From going 1-0 up at half-time to 1-2 down in the second half, Roberto Mancini's men made their supporters sweat.

This time around, the winner came 10 minutes instead of mere seconds from the end, as Samir Nasri added his strike to those of Carlos Tevez and substitute Edin Dzeko. Summer signing Steven Davis had earlier put the Saints in first-day dreamland when he netted just minutes after coming on as sub, only for Dzeko to equalise just four minutes later. Southampton's other scorer was Rickie Lambert, who cancelled out Tevez's first-half opener. City's cause was made more difficult by Sergio Aguero's early exit - the man who sealed the title in May was stretchered off after 14 minutes with an apparent