Man United 0-0 Man City: Pep Guardiola's men miss the chance to go fourth after rare goalless derby
- Man United and Man City played out their first 0-0 draw since 2020 on Sunday
- The result saw City miss the chance to move above Chelsea into fourth place
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! The signs that Ruben Amorim's Man United side are getting there
On reflection, this was an afternoon that may have been best spent in the garden. A derby without bite, a derby without passion and life. By the time it had meandered and drifted aimlessly and pointlessly through 94 minutes of nothing, it hardly felt like a derby at all.
Manchester United were the better team and it was once again possible to see improvement and pattern in Ruben Amorim's players. Maybe, after all this time, it is starting to come together. We will see.
Certainly had they a centre forward of note, they may have found a way to win this game. But they haven't and so they didn't.
It's an enduring problem and one, for the third consecutive year, they will endeavour to try and solve this summer. With that in mind, Thursday's Europa League quarter final first leg in Lyon feels significant. The winner of the competition will play Champions League football next season and the kind of financial windfall that accompanies that would open some doors for United in the transfer window.
As for City, they have regressed so far throughout the course of this season that it is increasingly hard to recognise them. Once again their big names – players like Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva – passed through this game like ghosts dressed in blue. Indeed City's shirts were the only thing vaguely recognisable about the English champions.
De Bruyne in particular – on the occasion of his final game at Old Trafford - looked like a competition winner. Out of legs, out of ideas and, as dreadful as it sounds, out of his depth at this exalted level. It has been a privilege to watch the great Belgian over the last decade but the decline had been quick and without doubt it's time to go.
Ruben Amorim (right) and Pep Guardiola (left) saw their sides play out a 0-0 draw on Sunday
Man City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne (centre) was playing in his last ever Manchester derby
United stopper Andre Onana was the busier of the two goalkeepers during Sunday's stalemate
City saw a lot of the ball here but never looked like winning the game. It was all sideways and backwards. No penetration. So many times over the last seven or eight years they have come across town and educated their rivals with the quality of their football. Not this time. Not even close.
And the most damning indictment of all is that they were so unwatchable. Not a single thing they did caught the eye. Not movement, not a pass, not a clever thought. One shot from Omar Mamoush may have torn the net from its moorings had it not been straight at Andre Onana in the United goal in the second half. But that was just about it.
City were as boring to watch as they were comfortable to play against. All the talk currently is that City will spend a month away at the Club World Cup this summer. Much more of this football and they will be home as soon as they play an opponent of note in America.
United were happy to let their opponents have the ball here. Too often in the past, the team in red has simply struggled to get it. But on this occasion they were content to let City play in front of them and then counter quickly whenever they could.
That was a clear game plan and at times United looked dangerous even if only once did they really come close to scoring, substitute Joshua Zirkzee bringing a terrific save from Ederson with 13 minutes of regulation time remaining.
At the end it was United who were pushing and probing. It was City and their manager Pep Guardiola who were happy to hear the final whistle. It had been United who had started the game the better too.
Within 30 seconds Alejandro Garnacho got free down the left and had the run on Ruben Dias who brought the rampaging forward down half a yard outside the penalty area. Old Trafford screamed for a penalty but the decision was correct and Bruno Fernandes, for all his skills, couldn't get the free-kick past the City defensive wall.
United were occasionally threatening down the flanks, especially when they got their wing backs on the overlap.
Bruno Fernandes (left) pictured attempting to flick the ball away from Omar Marmoush (centre)
Phil Foden (second right) pictured being put under pressure by multiple Man United players
Guardiola was seen speaking to Bernardo Silva shortly after the final whistle at Old Trafford
De Bruyne looked a little emotional as he waved to the crowd after his final Manchester derby
Diogo Dalot crossed for Garnacho to miss the header while the latter then supplied Patrick Dorgu with a cut back only for the chance to disappear on the back of a poor touch. On another occasion Garnacho hared forward after robbing Mateo Kovacic but played the ball fractionally behind Fernandes and then a lovely length of the pitch move ended with Dorgu shooting over from an angle.
This is where United are improving. They are passing the ball better and making fewer mistakes. They are finding angles and out balls.
By contrast, City were struggling to find incisiveness. Gundogan shot wide from 18 yards while Harry Maguire had to block a Marmoush shot after young Nico O'Reilly had played a smart ball over the top.
Then, at the start of the second half, Foden supplied a shocking touch to Marmoush's pass when a decent take may have led to a goal. Within a few minutes, Foden was off and for last year's double Player of the Year the end of this dreadful season cannot come soon enough.
Briefly City were brighter and more purposeful. Marmoush worked Onana with a free-kick and then thumped in that 20-yard volley from a corner. That would have been a goal quite out of keeping with the mundanity of the game.
Soon they regressed. Guardiola made his subs as Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish came on. But little changed. United finished the game with the energy and Ederson's save from Zirkee in the 77th minute was the moment the home supporters would have gone home thinking about.
There are signs of life at Amorim's United for sure but they are 13th in the Premier League so my goodness there needs to be. City, by comparison, are drifting. They sit in the final Champions League spot but are not a form team. For the soon to be deposed champions, much remains strangely uncertain.
