Tame Manchester Derby Ends Goalless
A drab and toothless Manchester Derby saw neither side stake a claim to be involved in this year’s title race with both sides settling for a point.
A poor and cautious game rolled to a stalemate with neither pushing for a result. The game cried out for fans and intent, but neither was on offer today.
The clear-cut chance of the game came in the first half when Riyad Mahrez was found unmarked at the back post but was denied by a strong save from David De Gea before Kevin De Bruyne fired over the rebound. That was the only sweeping, fluid counter-attack from the visitors throughout which started from John Stones under pressure in his own box.
United had a few half chances but the best sight of goal fell to Scott McTominay early on, but the Scot was unable to make contact on Victor Lindelöf’s header as it bounced across the face of goal. They struggled to create chances throughout and the ones they did were met by lacklustre end products.
Only a couple minutes into the second half, United thought they’d won themselves a penalty after Kyle Walker caught Marcus Rashford in the box only for VAR to rule Rashford offside and the penalty subsequently chalked off. It came as a warning to City and they reacted by dropping deeper, not wanting to be caught out by United’s counter-attacks.
Sub-Edited by Ciaran Coyle
Embed from Getty Images
