Manchester United and Manchester City played out a tame 0-0 draw in the Premier League, making this the first derby without a goal since December 2020.
City had to overcome an early blitz from the Red Devils, in which Ruben Dias was booked after fouling Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes sent a free-kick into the wall.
Having done so, the visitors established a foothold, with Phil Foden firing into the side netting.
Nico O’Reilly then picked out Omar Marmoush’s run to create an opening that was quickly closed by Harry Maguire coming across to block the Egyptian’s shot.
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At the other end, Diogo Dalot found Garnacho with a brilliant cross at the other end, although the winger was caught between heading and volleying it and eventually did neither.
Patrick Dorgu couldn’t turn a cutback from the Argentine towards goal and then fired off-target for a disappointing culmination to a move masterfully orchestrated by Bruno Fernandes.
The United captain then saw his dinked pass turned wide by Manuel Ugarte before Ilkay Gundogan sent a speculative attempt wide at one end, and Casemiro struck straight at Ederson at the other.
It appeared that Foden had a big opening within three minutes of the restart following O’Reilly’s pass to Marmoush, but Noussair Mazraoui did well to nip in and deny him a clean shot.
That was at least a sign of intent from Pep Guardiola’s side, as was a Kevin De Bruyne shot that eventually rolled harmlessly into Andre Onana’s clutches.
They had a scare at the other end when Dias slipped while stopping Dorgu’s cross, although the centre-back avoided handling it.
Marmoush then saw a free-kick and venomous strike palmed away by Onana before Ugarte sent an equally emphatic attempt fizzing marginally wide.
Ruben Amorim’s substitutes came closest to breaking the deadlock with Ederson palming Joshua Zirkzee’s shot towards Mason Mount, whose follow-up was blocked by Rico Lewis.
Zirkzee then had an attempt blocked by Dias as City held firm under late pressure to go a fourth consecutive fixture across all competitions unbeaten - even if they missed an opportunity to go above fourth-placed Chelsea in the PL table.
The point shared leaves United 13th in the league, having won just two of their last six matches across all competitions ahead of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final against Lyon on Thursday.
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