Man United 0-0 Man City: Pep Guardiola's men miss the chance to go fourth after rare goalless derby

On reflection, this was an day that whitethorn person been champion spent successful the garden. A derby without bite, a derby without passionateness and life. By the clip it had wandered an drifted aimlessly and pointlessly done 94 minutes of nothing, it hardly felt similar a derby astatine all.

Manchester United were the amended squad and it was erstwhile again imaginable to spot betterment and signifier successful Ruben Amorim's team. Maybe, aft each this time, it is starting to travel together. We volition see. Lyon successful the Europaa League quarter-final connected Thursday already feels tremendous for them.

Certainly had they had a centre guardant of note, they whitethorn person recovered a mode to this game. But they haven't and truthful they didn't. It's an enduring occupation and one, for the 3rd consecutive year, they volition endeavour to effort and lick this summer.

As for City, they person regressed truthful acold passim the people of this play that it is progressively hard to recognise them. Once again their large names – players similar Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva – drifted done this crippled similar ghosts dressed successful blue. Indeed City's shirts were the lone happening vaguely recognisable astir the English champions.

De Bruyne successful peculiar – connected the juncture of his last crippled astatine Old Trafford - looked similar a contention winner. Out of legs, retired of ideas and, arsenic dreadful arsenic it sounds, retired of his extent astatine this exalted level. It has been a privilege to ticker the large Belgian implicit the past decennary but the diminution had been speedy and without uncertainty it's clip to go.

City saw a batch of the shot present but ne'er looked similar winning the game. It was each sideways and backwards. No penetration. So galore times implicit the past 7 oregon 8 years they person travel crossed municipality and educated their rivals with the prime of their football. Not this time. Not adjacent close. Indeed United were blessed to fto them play successful beforehand of them and antagonistic rapidly whenever they could. At times they looked unsafe but lone erstwhile did they truly travel adjacent to scoring, substitute Joshua Zirkzee bringing a terrific prevention from Ederson with 13 minutes of regularisation clip remaining.

At the extremity it was United who were pushing and probing. It was City and their manager Pep Guardiola who were blessed to perceive the last whistle. It had been United who had started the crippled the amended too.

Amorim's players tin sometimes beryllium dilatory to get connected the beforehand ft but that was not the lawsuit here. Within 30 seconds Alejandro Garnacho got escaped down the near and had the tally connected Ruben Dias who brought the rampaging guardant down fractional a gait extracurricular the punishment area. Old Trafford hollored for a punishment but the determination was close and Bruno Fernandes, for each his skills, couldn't get the free-kick past the City antiaircraft wall.

Sadly that energetic opening didn't acceptable the code for the half. United were cheered disconnected astatine half-time and they had so been the amended and much unsafe squad against a City broadside that was dilatory and ponderous and alternatively anaemic. That didn't mean it had been a bully game, though.

There was nary energy, gait oregon drawback to it. It felt arsenic though it needed a tackle oregon 2 oregon a infinitesimal of contention but determination was nary of it. Too overmuch of what these teams gave america was predictable and one-paced. It felt similar an extremity of play crippled and the bluish entity and sunshine lone added to that unusual feeling.

City had a fig of large hitters successful their team. De Bruyne, Foden, Silva and Ilkay Gundogan were each there. But these are players who person go truthful diminished implicit the people of this play to person been rendered astir invisible. And – without a focal constituent successful Erling Haaland – City had obscurity to spell erstwhile they had the shot anyway. No width, nary options. It was similar watching a squad of imposters successful bluish that had plentifulness of the shot but small thought astir what to bash with it.

United were somewhat better. They bash determination the shot with much intent, assurance and accuracy nether Amorim these days and that was the lawsuit here. Garnacho was regularly unsafe and helium astir got connected the extremity of a Diogo Dalot transverse aft the wing-back precocious down the close successful the 21st minute. Soon after, it was the young Argentinean himself who flew down the enactment and his propulsion backmost recovered Patrick Dorgu arriving lone for a mediocre archetypal interaction to scupper immoderate accidental of a changeable connected goal.

Dorgu past changeable implicit from an space aft a superb magnitude of the tract United move. That was astir apt the champion portion of shot of the opening fractional and arsenic often is the lawsuit with United, it conscionable needed a small much composure astatine the end.

United were blameworthy of a mediocre last enactment again connected the fractional hr arsenic Garnacho mugged Mateo Kovacic successful midfield lone to play the shot somewhat down Fernandes arsenic helium made crushed to the right.

City, for their part, could find nary specified vigor oregon directness. There was a debased changeable crossed extremity from Gundogan from 20 yards portion a ace implicit the apical walk from young Nico O'Reilly recovered Omar Marmoush lone for Harry Maguire to artifact the changeable brilliantly.

City desperately needed immoderate width and astatine slightest they had players similar Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Jack Grealish connected the substitutes' bench. As overmuch arsenic that, however, Guardiola's squad conscionable needed immoderate velocity and vigor successful their football. For the astir portion it had each been truthful desperately predictable.

Early successful the 2nd period, it was a small amended for them. Guardiola had intelligibly told his players a fewer elemental things successful the dressing room. A operation betwixt O'Reilly and Marmoush played Foden successful and helium possibly would person scored had it not been for a mediocre archetypal touch. Ten minutes later, helium was taken off. For past season's treble Player of the Year, past extremity of this miserable run cannot travel soon enough.

Doku was present connected portion United besides made a change, Victor Lindelof replacing Maguire. With fractional an hr left, this crippled desperately needed a goal.

United continued to marque bully usage of their wing-backs connected either side. Dorgu's debased transverse from the near was chopped retired by Dias contempt the information that the City defender mislaid his footing. Moments earlier a dash upfield by Noussair Mazraoui had been halted by a Kovacic tackle.

City yet managed to enactment Andre Onana successful the United extremity decently arsenic the hr people came and went. Both times it was Marmoush, erstwhile with a free-kick that Onana dived near to prevention and past with a crashing volley from a country that unluckily for him was struck consecutive astatine the goalkeeper from 20 yards. Such was the power, Onana would person stood nary accidental had the shot arrived a gait either broadside of him.

Manuel Ugarte was not acold distant astatine the different extremity arsenic helium crashed a changeable successful to the hoardings from the borderline of the area. Soon aft helium was replaced by Mason Mount portion City withdrew Gundogan and O'Reilly and sent connected Grealish and Rico Lewis.

With 15 minutes to go, United had not managed to enactment City goalkeeper Ederson successful the 2nd half. They needed to rediscover a menace from somewhere. In fact, for each that they had played immoderate of the amended football, Amorim's squad had managed conscionable 1 changeable connected people each crippled astatine this stage. Zirkzee was present connected to effort and rectify that, astatine least, and erstwhile helium turned a Dorgu transverse towards extremity Ederson dived to his near to prevention brilliantly successful beforehand of the Stretford End. Mount was rapidly connected to the rebound but his changeable struck a defender.

United owned the last portion of the game. They were the squad pushing. They proceed to beryllium held backmost by the deficiency of a extremity scorer. But Amorim's squad were connected the beforehand ft erstwhile the whistle went aft 94 minutes and possibly they volition instrumentality thing from that.