Two of English football’s leading clubs drew the curtain on Sunday’s Premier League action as Manchester United and Manchester City cancelled each other out en route to a goalless draw.
United were looking to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, while City were searching for consecutive league wins for the first time since January after beating Leicester City 2-0 in midweek.
Ruben Amorim’s side started the contest on the front foot and had a dangerous free kick inside the opening two minutes, from which Bruno Fernandes could only hit the wall.
Looking for his first Premier League strike since a six-goal salvo in January, Phil Foden had an early pop at Andre Onana’s goal, albeit without posing any threat.
Featuring for the first time since announcing his departure from Man City at the end of the season, Kevin De Bruyne had the game’s first effort on target but was easily denied by Onana.
United had the half’s biggest chance just shy of the half-hour mark through Manuel Ugarte, who was unable to fire the ball home from inside the area.
Casemiro stung the palms of compatriot Ederson five minutes before the interval, and that proved to be the final meaningful moment of attacking significance in the opening 45 minutes.
Save for Phil Foden’s decent chance at the start of proceedings, the second half kicked off on a pedestrian note as neither team was able to seize the game by the scruff of the neck.
Having largely cut a peripheral figure up until that point, Omar Marmoush tested Onana in the 65th minute, the first of two shots on target within a four-minute span.
Sent on as a substitute with United looking to intensify their attacking impetus, Joshua Zirkzee drew a fine save out of Ederson within five minutes of coming on.
That was the final attempt on target in an attritional contest, a testament to how much both teams have underwhelmed this season.
Man City have failed to capitalise on Chelsea’s draw against Brentford earlier today and remain a point behind them in the race for fourth place. United are 13th, seven points adrift of the top half.
