SAN FRANCISCO, December 13, (THEWILL) – In their first fixture following their early exit from the UEFA Champions League, Manchester avoided further misery in their goalless draw with a passive Manchester City. It however implied that United’s underwhelming home form is still a headache Old Trafford has not found a way to resolve.
Underfire manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure at the helm incurred increased scrutiny after United suffered a 3-2 defeat away to RB Leipzig in Europe on Tuesday with his team only showing some spirit once they were three goals down with a late rally that was not nearly enough.
On Saturday, in a Manchester derby expected to witness fireworks and end-to-end thrills especially from a City side that was beginning to click again, Pep Guardiola’s charges rarely showed the levels of intensity displayed by the Germans in midweek, with Solskjaer potentially seeing the stalemate something of a missed opportunity.
The way City set up with Fernandinho in front of the defence and Kevin De Bruyne behind the striker, they unsurprisingly saw more of the ball throughout, but appeared sluggish and lacking in imagination to make anything out of their advantage in possession.
Man U very nearly punished them for that 11 minutes in as centre back Victor Nilsson Lindelof’s flick-on at a corner bounced agonisingly over the foot of the unmarked midfielder Scott McTominay at the far post.
Soon after, the visitors crafted an opening, with right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka turned inside-out by pacy Raheem Sterling but Harry Maguire produced a vital block to keep the scoreline blank.
Another close-call United escaped came 10 minutes before half-time as City caught them on the break with a counter. United goalie David de Gea had to stand strong to thwart Riyad Mahrez, who was cleverly released into the box by Kevin De Bruyne.
It was until the second half that the hosts showed greater intent and it quickly put them on the ascendancy. United seemingly won a penalty when forward Marcus Rashford was clipped by right back Kyle Walker. But, a VAR check bailed City out as the player had strayed marginally offside before the foul.
United’s initial intensity soon petered out and while City dictated the tempo as the match progressed, chances were infrequent and United saw a few opportunities to counter come to nought.
Though the visitors crafted the better chances, they were nothing close to their fluent best. Ultimately, neither side did enough to earn the breakthrough and they remain neck-and-neck in seventh and eighth on the table.
United are next in action at Sheffield United on Thursday while City welcome struggling West Brom to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
