MANCHESTER CITY RETURNED to the top of the Premier League on goal difference after holding rivals United to a lacklustre 0-0 draw in the Manchester derby.
The 170th edition of the fixture was expected to be one for the Old Trafford crowd to savour – United having the opportunity to leapfrog their neighbours in the standings, while City had scored 11 goals in their previous two league wins.
Such thrills were in meagre supply throughout 90 minutes contested by two lavishly assembled starting XI.
The absence of David Silva and Sergio Aguero through injury badly impacted upon City’s creativity, while an off-colour Wayne Rooney was unable to effectively supplement Anthony Martial’s ingenuity in the United attack.
Substitute Jesse Lingard was almost an unlikely derby hero for United, prodding a volley against the crossbar from Martial’s wonderful lofted ball five minutes from time and City goalkeeper Joe Hart saved brilliantly from Chris Smalling as the clock ticked down.
City edge on to 22 points, ahead of Arsenal at the summit on goal difference, while United are fourth and level on 20 with third-place West Ham.
After speculation over his involvement dominated the pre-match build-up, City captain Vincent Kompany returned at centre-back to partner Nicolas Otamendi for the first time, while Manuel Pellegrini replaced Jesus Navas with Fernando to bolster his central midfield.
Louis van Gaal made a solitary change to the United side that drew 1-1 against CSKA Moscow in midweek, with Juan Mata replacing Lingard, and his settled line-up made the more assured start.
City’s first sight of goal came in the 12th minute, Raheem Sterling’s shot deflected wide after a one-two with Fernandinho – the Brazil midfielder who earned a fifth booking of the season and a suspension for bringing down Martial a few moments later.
A clash of heads between Kompany and Rooney left his United counterpart bloodied and off the field for repairs.
Yaya Toure enjoyed the best opening of a forgettable opening 45 minutes as half-time approached – heading Kevin De Bruyne’s right-wing corner narrowly wide before lofting a searching pass from the same player off target.
Martial’s quicksilver footwork offered United’s greatest source of encouragement before the break, Kompany booked for a rash foul on the France international, but Ander Herrera was the man to unnerve City after the restart.
Having seen a shot deflected wide, the midfielder collected a short corner and went down under a challenge from Sterling, who went unpunished but made way for Navas in the 53rd minute.
United almost found success with a more direct set-piece approach, Morgan Schneiderlin agonisingly close to a decisive touch as Smalling’s header skidded past Hart’s near post.
Otamendi made a vital clearance as Rooney lurked on the end of a low Bastian Schweinsteiger cross and Hart burst from his goal to deny Mata as the pressure on City grew.
Pellegrini’s decision to replace Toure with veteran defender Martin Demichelis showed his willingness to accept a point from a wholly disjointed performance and Lingard and Smalling were denied by the woodwork and Hart respectively as the cross-Manchester tussle ended all-square for the first time in 13 meetings in all competitions.
He’s like a piece of Iron, In BOD we trust.
Good man Brian!
Brian O Driscoll is a legend. Irish Rugby wont be the same when he retires.
The best and most professional player ever to play in a green shirt. He is right too.
What an absolute legend this man is! Good on ya Drico, that you weren’t born in Limerick or Cork is all I ever disliked about ya!
Its a shame his success at international is been hindered by a poor coaching ticket.
A great player no doubt and a great ambassador for the game. is he past his prime, in my opinion yes. He is. Ronan, do you think that’s valid? would you rather not have an opinion and merely comment on the opinions of others. A whole…….
I agree he had a good game against Edinburgh. He may not have the pace of when he was younger – but his try against Treviso showed he reads a game like no one else. It has been a privilege to be able to watch him over the years.
Hope you help to deliver a third Heineken cup in a row in Landowne Road in May BOD!
He’s the Javier Zanetti of rugby!
Terrible against edinburgh. He knows well enough it’s over for him this season.thanks for the memories. Dignity is important.
The punishment that man’s body has taken is incredible. He’ll finish up in a wheelchair if he doesn’t give it up shortly.
U either didnt watch the game or ur clueless (or trolling).
Of course hes past his prime – but still has a lot to give. U said he was terrible against edinburgh. Which he clearly was not.
Yawn
Your obviously clueless or a Munster fan
He was about the only decent performer against Edinburgh. De Luca did nothing all game
The headline does not in any way reflect what O’Driscoll actually said, have just listened to the interview on Newstalk!
First few lines say that BOD has “given his strongest indications yet that he would love to stick around for another crack at World Cup success.”, but further down the man himself says: “We’ll deal with the November Series first and, hopefully if I’m still in the mix, the Six Nations next year. After that is still too far away to be considering.”
Any chance you could reconcile that a bit Patrick, because it’s fairly misleading I think?
he should do what the likes of d. o’callaghan and others do. retire. but keep playing for ireland
“Brian O’Driscoll rules out retirement and targets World Cup success.” What does success mean, daddy? Well, son, it means: 1. Qualifying. 2. Not losing to Georgia. 3. Beating England. 4. Going out at 1/4 final stage but taking heart from the fact that we have “learned a lot from this experience” and being on a “steep learning curve.” But does success not mean winning, daddy? Ah no, son. Only if you’re from New Zealand.