Manchester City 0 Manchester United 0
At the end of the season, when the story comes to be told of how Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho did in their first year in Manchester, they might both look back on this draw as a useful result if it helps with the business of finishing in the top four. There are, however, no guarantees and it was a strangely subdued derby at times, lacking any real incident until the moment late on when Marouane Fellaini lost the plot.
Fellaini was so aggrieved by his red card it needed half a dozen of his Manchester United colleagues to usher him away. It was a display of petulance that might warrant a Football Association charge and, not for the first time, it was difficult to find any mitigation for a player with a long history of violent acts. The difference this time is that Fellaini did not get away with it in the way he often has in the past. His head-butt on Sergio Agüero was committed directly in front of the referee, Martin Atkinson, and the Belgian, a repeat offender, should just be relieved that his team-mates managed to hold on without him.
On the balance of play, Guardiola can certainly reflect his side had enough chances in the second half to move above Liverpool into third position. Instead, they remain in fourth, a point behind Jürgen Klopp's team. United are a point further back, having been grateful for a linesman's flag when Gabriel Jesus, returning from injury after 10 weeks out, headed in Agüero's cross from an offside position.
Next season these two old adversaries will hope to be much nearer the top of the table but the prize was still considerable and, for United, there was also an opportunity to clamber into the top four for the first time since September 16th. They have not lost since October in the league and started the game with the confidence that comes from an unbeaten run that now spans 24 games.
Mourinho began with Henrikh Mkhitaryan as the spearhead of his attack but there was actually no set replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic in that central position. At other points of the evening Marcus Rashford went through the middle. Rashford also alternated with Anthony Martial on the wings and it felt like a clear strategy on Mourinho's part to line up three attackers who had the acceleration to get away from the three thirtysomethings – Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov – in City's defence.
Rashford also had the beating of Nicolás Otamendi and, unfortunately for Claudio Bravo, his presence will always encourage City's opponents. At one point in the first half Bravo's unorthodox attempt to claw a largely innocuous cross out of the air succeeded only in presenting the ball to a startled Mkhitaryan inside the penalty area. To give him his due, Bravo saved the shot but these are the kind of errors that make him a danger to his own team. Bravo had to go off in the 79th minute, replaced by Willy Caballero, after injuring himself catching the ball and if City are to sustain a title challenge next season, it feels imperative they bring in a more trustworthy goalkeeper.
David Silva's absence was a significant loss for City, depriving them of the player who shepherds their attacks. Kevin De Bruyne was prominently involved but the two wide players, Leroy Sané and Raheem Sterling, took a while to get into the game and Agüero will have expected to score, nine minutes in, when the ball reached him inside the six-yard area for the game's first clear opportunity. De Bruyne's cross was delivered with great precision but Agüero turned his shot against the outside of the post and the chance was gone.
United’s best opportunity of the first half came right at the end when Zabaleta gave away a silly free-kick on the touchline and Rashford’s free-kick was swung to the far post where Ander Herrera had managed to elude Sané. Herrera could not get a unchallenged header on target and, though the sheer speed of the game made it an entertaining spectacle, it was also lacking refinement.
Too many passes were being misplaced – too much haste and not enough thought. City did, however, start to exert more pressure after the interval and there were plenty of opportunities in the next 20 minutes for the players in blue to take aim at David de Gea’s goal.
Their problem was that too many of these shots were aimed straight at an elite goalkeeper. Agüero was working manfully to unsettle United’s defence but he also sliced their best attempt wide during this period of superiority and the others were really only half-chances. After an adventurous first-half display, United’s conservatism after the interval had encouraged their opponents forward. Suddenly, Rashford could be seen looking isolated with his hands on hips. Martial had been dangerous in the opening 45 minutes but now he drifted to the edges.
United had played with great discipline until Fellaini, just booked, lost his temper, believing that Agüero had exaggerated contact to try to bring out a second yellow card. It left United vulnerable to a late onslaught but the long unbeaten run continues.
(Guardian service)
