Evra relishes city rivalry

He isn't Mancunian, but Patrice Evra knows the importance of derby day and is determined to play his part in victory on Sunday.

The Reds can move to within four points of a third successive title with a win at Old Trafford, and it would be even sweeter doing it with a double over City, after Wayne Rooney secured three points at Eastlands in November.

"There's an extra edge to these games," he tells United Review. "Even those of us not from Manchester can understand what it means. We’re aware of the rivalry and what it means to supporters.

"City raise their game against us so they’re always difficult games. I made my debut against them in the derby and, if I’m honest, it was a bad moment for me. But I learnt a lot about the derby and how bad it felt to lose. It’s all about getting the three points and getting closer to the title."

Evra's mixed emotions

Disciplinary matters were on Patrice Evra's mind in the wake of United's Champions League semi-final victory over Arsenal.

While declaring his relief at being eligible to play in the final himself, the Reds left-back was quick to console Darren Fletcher who's set to miss out after being sent off.

"The bad news of the night is Fletcher will miss the final and I feel so frustrated for him," said Evra, who had been one booking away from missing out on the Rome showpiece.

"The (possibility of a) yellow card was on my mind in the week leading up to the game, in the hotel before the match and during it. I thought about it a lot because I always believed we would reach the final and I wanted to be there.

"I, therefore, played with a lot of pain in my stomach [in the second leg] and I said to the boss that if we scored a third goal I wanted to come off, I just couldn't face the thought of missing the final.

"Of course, the most important thing was to help the team get there and I just tried to make sure I did my job well in order to do that. Maybe it was destiny that I should play in the final, but I knew the most important thing was to make sure we were there."

Evra was one of three players who would have missed the final had they been booked at the Emirates Stadium; Wayne Rooney also avoided a caution before he was substituted, while Carlos Tevez remained on the bench throughout the match.

here

Patrice : Penalty was key

Patrice Evra says United's come-from-behind win against Tottenham Hotspur wouldn't have been possible without an early goal in the second half.

After going into the break 2-0 down, Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back for the Reds from the spot on 57 minutes.

The goal may have had a touch of fortune associated with it - replays showed Howard Webb was perhaps harsh to penalise Heurelho Gomes for his challenge on Michael Carrick - but Ronaldo kept a cool head to fire past the Spurs goalkeeper.

"That goal was key," Evra told MUTV. "The manager told us at half-time that if we scored once we'd go on to win, and we believed that. But we knew we needed to score in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

"We knew we needed to wake up in the second half. At 2-0 down it was very difficult. We started very slowly and without any aggression. We let Tottenham play too much."

Evra admitted Sir Alex had "made a speech" in the dressing room at the interval. But the boss's team-talk wasn't the sole inspiration behind a stunning second-half performance.

"I have to say congratulations to the fans. We came off 2-0 down and were clapped off the pitch by our fans. That’s unbelievable.

"The fans were very important today and I’d like to congratulate them. It's very difficult for opposition teams to play at Old Trafford when the crowd gets behind us."