Manchester United 0 Manchester City 0: match report

United and City play out a goalless draw in a forgettable Manchester derby

Manchester City travelled to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon to face neighbouring rivals Manchester United following a 2-0 win over Leicester in the week. City were looking for their first win against United this season, as the previous encounter ended in a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad. City were also looking to make progress in the fight for top 4/5 and results had relatively favoured them this weekend with Nottingham Forest losing and Chelsea drawing. Ederson started in goal with Nunes, Dias, Gvardiol, and O’Reilly as the back line. Gundogan and Kovacic were in midfield with Foden, De Bruyne, and Bernardo in attacking midfield. Marmoush appeared to adapt a false 9 role. No wingers started the game.

The opening minute was very nearly a disaster for City as United were seemingly through with Garnacho but a foul from Dias just outside of the area saved the Blues from an early concession, although any closer this could’ve been a penalty. Dias was booked for the challenge. Foden had a shot a few minutes later after cutting inside within 18 yards out but the shot was just wide. Another big chance for United came when a cross came in from Dalot to Garnacho but despite being unmarked he did not get his header right and the ball was cleared in the aftermath.

Overall, the game was marred by these quick chances every few minutes but other than that there was really nothing to write home about. Both sides seemed to be in second gear the whole match through, this was especially the case in the first half. Gundogan had the chance to give the lead to City just before half time, but his shot was narrowly wide. City had a surge of sudden energy in the first few minutes of the second half. The ball went right through to Foden who was practically 1v1 with the goalkeeper, but he couldn’t get the shot off properly and it was well off balance adding to City frustration. Foden was replaced by Doku shortly after.

A City corner later in the match was only half cleared by the United defence and the following shot from Marmoush had plenty of power but it was straight at Onana. Zirkzee and Mount were brought on for United and in the moments after a shot from Ugarte went wide following a cross from Casemiro. Zirkzee very almost broke the deadlock with a close range shot but Ederson parried it away and the follow up chance from Mount was blocked by Lewis, who was brought on for O’Reilly. Neither side could really hack another chance in the dying minutes of the game and the final score was 0-0. A lacklustre performance from both sides means City could only go away with a point and remain 5th in the table, still behind Chelsea. They will need to watch out for Newcastle who are only 2 points behind with 2 games in hand. Some serious luck may be needed for City to get that crucial champions league spot by the end of the season