Terrier Tevez proving his worth

THE ATMOSPHERE and occasion – not to mention the vitriol and venom – did not disappoint at last night’s Carling Cup semi-final second leg at Old Trafford as the holders returned to the final and City were left waiting for their first final appearance in 29 years.

And nor did Carlos Tevez, the man who was at the centre of so much of the footballing brilliance and non-footballing animosity that emanated from the first leg a week ago.

The Argentine forward’s defection across the city last year generated millions of pounds for himself, and a fair bit of acrimony at his former club, not least of all because of the ham-fisted way in which City handled the move.

Alex Ferguson expressed his outrage at a summer poster campaign in which his nouveau riche rivals appeared to be mocking United for having “stolen” a player who was little more than a bit part afterthought in his Old Trafford scheme of things.

Of course, Tevez’s form in recent weeks, since his recovery from early-season fitness problems, suggested the fault for Tevez’s lack of production at Old Trafford lay as much, if not more, with Ferguson for not getting enough out of the player.

Last week, United’s resident barrack room lawyer Gary Neville felt moved to make disparaging remarks about Tevez who, after a suitably superlative two-goal performance in City’s 2-1 first leg win, chose to vent his feelings about his former team-mate to media in his homeland.

Whatever the exact translation and colloquial nuance, the word “boot licker” or some derivative was aimed in Neville’s direction and added to the intensity and rancour that already existed around the rematch and which had forced police into a series of dawn raids on matchday to head off fans from both clubs, with violent intent.

Predictably, Tevez began the game as he has practically every other in his so-far brief City career, running around with the wild-eyed craziness of the cartoon Tasmanian Devil and pressurising defenders not used to such commitment and workrate at this level of the game.

Equally predictably, his every touch of the ball was greeted by a chorus of abuse from Reds; adoration from Blues who serenaded the home manager with chants of “Fergie, sign him up” and who used Tevez as exhibit A in their vociferous claims that “the city is ours”.

In the future, of course, that may well prove to be the case. English – even European – football may be theirs. City have enjoyed some dumb luck in their current rise up the football ranks. Billionaire Arabs, with no connection to the club or the region, buying City was, obviously, a large slice of luck. So, too, was a global recession and the bad financial management that has hamstrung key rivals such as Liverpool and, probably, United. There was also a large element of luck in landing Tevez in the first place. Only City would match the outlandish demands of the player and his owners and that was largely because the club’s chief exec Garry Cook was desperate to land a “big name” star having missed out on the likes of Kaka, John Terry and Fernando Torres over the previous six months. And despite last night’s on pitch drama, it was reported that their insatiable appetite made them bid for Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson.

Mark Hughes and now Roberto Mancini have succeeded where Ferguson failed – in getting the best out of Tevez who has now scored 14 goals in his last 12 games, a phenomenal statistic that fails to take into account the other influences he has on his team.

Goal number 12 last night, so typical of many others, was a perfect finish at the perfect time just as the tie was running away from the Blues.

And, even though the evening ended in defeat, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that while the present may belong to United, Manchester City and Tevez may well have a large say in the game’s future.