Battered Ferguson bemoans his ‘crazy’ champions

City, the Barclays Premier League leaders, stormed into Old Trafford to thrash their 10-man rivals and send out an ominous warning to their title rivals.

It was United’s heaviest derby defeat since 1926, their first loss at home in 18 months and left them trailing City by five points in the table.

Ferguson said: “It was our worst ever day.

“It’s the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don’t think I ever lost 6-1. That’s a challenge for me too.

“I can’t believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure but it was retrievable at 1-0.

“The sending-off (of Jonny Evans straight after the interval) was a killer for us. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said, ‘We’ve had our day’.”

Controversial City striker Mario Balotelli, after waking to more negative headlines following a fire in his house, began the rout with a first-half opener.

He was then the man fouled as Evans earned a straight red card and added a second before Sergio Aguero slid in the third.

Darren Fletcher pulled one back but Edin Dzeko came off the bench to score twice as City ran their hosts ragged in the closing minutes with David Silva also hitting the target.

Ferguson added: “We just kept attacking. They were attacking three versus two. It was crazy football.

“I thought with the experience we’ve got – Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra – they would (have defended more) but we just kept attacking.

“Sometimes there has to be common sense about it. It was a bad day.”

The Scot attempted to find some positives by suggesting his side would be sufficiently chastened by their embarassing loss to produce a big response.

“We’ll come back,” he said. “By January we’ll be okay. We usually get the show on the road in the second half of the season and that will have to be the case.

“We’ve played all the teams around us and they have all to play each other so the second half of the season is important to us now.

“We will react, no question about that. It’s a perfect result for us to react to because there is a lot of embarassment in the dressing room and that will make an impact.”

Ferguson’s opposite number Roberto Mancini hailed the result as a landmark in his club’s progress but believes his side can improve further despite taking their points tally to 25 in nine games with 33 goals scored.

Mancini said: “I’m satisfied because we beat United away and I don’t think there are a lot of teams that could win here.

“I think this game is important because we beat them at Old Trafford but not for the 6-1.

“This is important for our supporters and maybe for the goals in the table. I am happy with the three points.

“But I think we need to improve more if we want to stay on the top a long time. We need to work more.”

Despite the emphatic nature of the win, Mancini insisted United were still the superior side.

He said: “This is only one game. I still think United are one yard above us, still.

“I think we can only change this after we win the title in the end.

“After, maybe it will be different, but now United are better than us.”

Balotelli has now scored six goals in his last five games but, despite signs of improving maturity, continues to court controversy off the field.

The Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed on Saturday they were called to the 21-year-old’s home in Macclesfield after a firework went off in his bathroom.

Mancini said: “I don’t know what happened about the fireworks.

“The important thing is Mario and his friend were okay.

“(Yesterday), Mario played very well. If we want to talk about Mario as a football player, I put him in the first five players in the world.

“The problem is his age, he is young and maybe sometimes can do some mistakes.

“As a player, he is incredible.

“I hope for him – for football in general – we arrive at the day when Mario has changed completely his mind because after this he becomes one of the best three players in the world, like (Lionel) Messi, like Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Micah Richards believes City are ready to throw their ‘noisy neighbours’ nickname back in Manchester United’s face.

Richards, who put in a tireless performance at right-back – although he was slightly fortunate to receive only one second-half caution after several early offences – was quick to recall Ferguson’s famous quip about City.

“People call us the noisy neighbours but here we are. We have a good set of lads and we want to show people what we can do.

“I think we did that. It’s what dreams are made of,” he said.

“We all know how good United are and how good they are at home. But they know about our attacking force – Balotelli, Dzeko, Aguero, Silva.

“To come to Old Trafford and win gives confidence, especially the way we won. We’ll only go forward now.”

Richards conceded that he had not expected the game to be quite so one-sided and admitted Evans’s dismissal was key.

“I’m still gobsmacked to be honest. To come here and win 6-1 is unbelievable,” he said.

“They had 10 men so you have to let them off a bit but in the first half we defended well and took the chance when it came.”