"The fact that we made the mistakes probably made it the best derby game of all time and would we have rather won 6-0 or had the greatest derby game of all time? I'd rather have won 6-0."
GRUDGING RESPECT
The grudging respect shown by Ferguson was warranted as Gareth Barry cancelled out Wayne Rooney's early opening goal before, in a stunning second half, Craig Bellamy twice equalised headed goals from Darren Fletcher.
The second Bellamy strike came with five seconds left in normal time and the resulting celebrations enjoyed by the City players enjoyed and their fans in the 75,066 crowd were behind the reasons for the additional time added on.
"The fourth official told me he added a minute-plus because of our celebration when we scored our third," said Hughes of referee Martin Atkinson's time keeping.
"But we timed the amount of time from when we scored to when they kicked off and it was something like 45 seconds so he has got that wrong."
However, while Hughes conceded he felt little apart from disappointment immediately after the game, there was also a real sense that City's title credentials are serious and the former United player took consolation from the way in which United celebrated victory.
"They seemed quite excitable at the end which shows you what this win means to them," said Hughes. "It was reminiscent of some of the scenes with Brian Kidd and Alex Ferguson in days gone by and I saw Gary Neville running on the pitch like a lunatic!
"It's a game we can take many positives out of and we are not going to go away."
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