A section of Manchester City fans were furious with their Manchester United rivals after an attack on their favourite pub.
The Manchester Evening News says rival fans daubed pro-United slogans on the walls of Mary Ds bar, which is well known as a City fans' watering hole on match days.
The words "Manchester is red", "MUFC", "34 years" and a slur aimed at tragic former City hero Marc-Vivien Foe were written on the Grey Mare Lane pub.
Foe collapsed and died on the pitch while playing for Cameroon against Colombia in 2003. He was just 28.
It is thought that the pranksters struck in the early hours. Landlord Mike Kehoe, 50, was left with a race against time to clear the walls before tonight's hotly anticipated clash over the road.
Mike, a City fan, said: "The mother-in-law and the manager were at the premises but they didn't hear anything. I started getting a load of phone calls at seven this morning telling me the pub had been vandalised.
"I think you expect a bit of banter but this is over the top. You don't mind the taunts about how long it is since City won a trophy because that's fact and we can't change that but the stuff about Foe is not nice. That's a guy who lost his life on the pitch."
