Manchester United and Manchester City played out a dismal derby stalemate behind closed doors at Old Trafford.
In a game devoid of quality and excitement, neither side were able to carve out the opportunity that could make a difference amid the eerie silence of the so-called ‘Theatre Of Dreams’.
Gabriel Jesus was off target and Riyad Mahrez brought a routine save from David de Gea with City’s best first-half chances while Scott McTominay was agonisingly inches away from Victor Lindelof’s flick as United sought the breakthrough.
United thought they had a second-half penalty when Kyle Walker fouled Marcus Rashford but the decision was overturned as VAR revealed the United striker was offside.
It led to an unsatisfactory conclusion for both sides, leaving United seventh in the Premier League and City a place below them.
Will Solskjaer be satisfied?
Manchester United needed some sort of response after the despair and disappointment of their Champions League exit following the loss against RB Leipzig – defeat was not an option.
And that goal, at least, was achieved but it was achieved at the end of a real eyesore of a game and was pretty much a flimsy straw that under-pressure boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United could clutch at.
Paul Pogba was restored to the starting line-up to little or no effect but it would be unfair to single out the midfielder who seems permanently unsettled at Old Trafford, at least according to agent Mino Raiola, because barely anyone had a positive impact on a shocking spectacle.
De Gea was under the microscope after another expensive error in Germany but he, like City counterpart Ederson, had a quiet night.
He completed two straightforward saves from Mahrez’s first-half effort and Rodri’s injury-time shot but other than that was largely unemployed.
It was that sort of game – although once more United’s £40m summer signing from Ajax Donny van de Beek was left to watch on from the bench perhaps wondering what he has to do to get a start.
Stones excels as City stay solid
Manchester City kept their sixth successive clean sheet since losing at Tottenham in November and it was a good night for John Stones in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate.
The 26-year-old, who played in England’s run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals in Russia, has quietly rebuilt his form and confidence in the past few weeks and was impressive once again as United were kept at bay with relative ease.
Stones was comfortable on the ball but also did what he had to do when the straightforward defensive work was required as he continued the rehabilitation after his career looked to have stalled.
City manager Pep Guardiola showed faith to select Stones ahead of Aymeric Laporte, a sign of how satisfied he is with his form, and the defender did not let him down.
And while it is early days and Stones still has much work to do, the manner of his performance will not have gone unnoticed by Southgate, who has left Stones out of recent England squads but has an important vacancy to fill after the serious injury to Liverpool’s Joe Gomez.
This was a game which left few satisfied – but Stones will certainly be one of them.
‘Without the people, it’s not a derby’- what they said
United boss Solskjaer: “In my time against Manchester City that’s the best performance we have had – not the best result but the best performance. I know we beat them a few times last season but those were different games.
“It was a tight game. It’s two good teams. Tactically we knew they were going to give us some problems but defensively we were excellent. I’m delighted with the defensive shape.
“With the ball we didn’t create as much as we wanted to. They probably had the bigger moments in open play. But everyone should be happy with a draw.”
City boss Guardiola: “They started well after we finished the first half well. We created three or four clear chances, you cannot expect many against a team like United and it was a good point in the end. It will be a good point in the future.
“United is always a strong team, this is Old Trafford and in a few details they are out of the Champions League. They score when they can run but we controlled them really well.
“It is not a derby, it would be different with the people and maybe they pushed more. It is different every week without the people, the virus is still there, you have to be careful.”
