Three thoughts on Manchester City and Manchester United’s 0-0 draw in the Premier League.
1. Manchester derby is a damp squib
Go back to last summer, when Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho arrived in Manchester and the city was touted as the footballing capital of the country, if not the world. It has not panned out quite that way and this eagerly anticipated derby, much like the two teams’ title challenges, turned out to be a damp squib.
A game that could have had vast consequences instead changed nothing. Manchester City stayed fourth, Manchester United fifth, with each knowing that, if they win their last five league games, they will secure a Champions League place. Each has less margin for error now, however, and they will have to shed drawing habits in the run-in.
United will have to negotiate the next three league games without Marouane Fellaini, who injected some drama into a dull game by chopping Sergio Aguero down to get booked, then fouling the striker again before headbutting him, all within the space of a minute. It was an act of rank stupidity that could have cost United. Instead, they held on to secure a statistical milestone.
They have now equalled a club record of 24 consecutive unbeaten top-flight league games in a single season. To do so, they were aided by David De Gea, who made several saves, but also a defence in which Eric Bailly again excelled. Aguero clipped the outside of the post early on and tried his luck time and again but City could not find a breakthrough.
The hosts missed the injured David Silva. While the fit-again Gabriel Jesus eventually came off the bench and had an effort disallowed for offside, Guardiola first brought on Jesus Navas, who has gone 1195 days without a league goal.
Guardiola has bemoaned home draws this season and this was another when City dominated possession, had the majority of chances and dropped two points. His side have not been ruthless enough, especially in major matches. Since defeating United in September, they have only overcome one of the top seven; Arsenal, when the Gunners were in self-destructive mood.
That record must be remedied next season when both sides really ought to be better.
2. Mourinho goes on the defensive
Mourinho is the serial winner, who has become the specialist drawer but, if the litany of games that finished level at Old Trafford this season have frustrated him, this may have brought satisfaction. There was the sense that United played for the point. Certainly, if not wasting time, a weakened, injury-hit group was rarely in any hurry to restart the game.
Perhaps, with trips to Arsenal and Tottenham to come, this represented a missed opportunity, both in terms of the top four and to prove their mettle on such stages. The recent 2-0 win against Chelsea was the first true Mourinho masterclass against elite opponents this season. He used to specialise in such clinical dissections away from home, too. The Etihad Stadium witnessed one in 2014, when Mourinho’s Chelsea stopped Manuel Pellegrini’s free-scoring City with a counter-attacking game plan.
United’s manager borrowed elements of that, looking initially to break quickly again. Having surprised Antonio Conte with his tactics, he seemed to have confounded Guardiola too, by beginning with Marcus Rashford on the right and Anthony Martial on the left, looking to find space behind City’s ageing, slower full-backs Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandsar Kolarov.
Yet it was an elaborate decoy. After a few minutes, Rashford switched with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as each was restored to a more familiar role, the Armenian midfielder no longer operating as a false nine. It left United with some more orthodox and more conventionally negative tactics.
The positive slant is that lessons were learned from a chastening day when, at home to City in September, Mourinho’s side were too open, exposed and appeared oddly naïve. He began with two central midfielders then but, on Thursday, Fellaini, Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera formed a positionally disciplined trio, challenging City to play through them as United looked to keep seven outfield players behind the ball.
It followed the pattern that might be expected from purist and pragmatist. City had 63 percent possession and 10 shots in the first half. The game remained goalless and, if anything United had less of the ball and sat deeper after the break.
Martial was almost an auxiliary left-back at times. Perhaps it was a ploy to lure Zabaleta forward, perhaps an indication of United’s defensiveness as Rashford became marooned in attack. In the manner of an underdog, they looked to maximise dead-ball opportunities. Maybe Mourinho spotted a flaw in City’s often faulty set-piece marking when Herrera ran off Leroy Sane to head Rashford’s free kick just wide on the stroke of half -time. It was a rare chance.
3. Bravo errs, atones, then gets injured
It set the tone for a City career, not to mention the season. Claudio Bravo erred, Guardiola praised him and the wider world wondered about the gulf between rhetoric and reality. The goalkeeper made his debut against United sevent months ago and was at fault for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal, but his display was described by his manager as “one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.”
Bravo has since been dropped and restored, his reputation damaged along with that of the manager who championed him. And there was almost an action replay when he pushed Martial’s deflected cross straight out to Mkhitaryan, in an ideal shooting position. Bravo redeemed himself with a save, just his second in the Premier League since Jan. 2. Closer scrutiny suggested it was a tame effort by Mkhitaryan and perhaps fortune favoured Bravo, allowing an error to go unpunished.
It was also notable that Mourinho instructed Daley Blind and Rashford to take in-swinging corners and there were huge, perhaps ironic, cheers whenever Bravo caught one. But one such occasion marked the end of his contribution; City’s No. 1 contrived to injure himself when landing awkwardly, and was replaced by Willy Caballero.
Bravo was stretchered off to more genuine applause from the home fans and did depart with a derby clean sheet. Given how little he had to do and how unconvincing he was when the ball came his way, though, that should scarcely be cause for celebration.
