Marouane Fellaini was sent off as Manchester United played to a 0-0 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday evening, writes DYLAN APPOLIS.
Pep Guardiola made three changes to the side that started in the FA Cup defeat against Arsenal on the weekend, with Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov and Raheem Sterling coming into the starting line-up to replace Jesus Navas, Gael Clichy and David Silva.
Jose Mourinho made four alterations to the team that featured in their last outing, with Ashley Young, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Wayne Rooney making way for Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford.
The home side got off to a good start and nearly opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Kevin De Bruyne fired a low cross into the path of Sergio Aguero, who hit the outside of the post with his first-time effort.
City had another chance in the 21st minute after De Bruyne unleashed a shot at goal, but the Belgian’s tame effort curled straight into the hands of David De Gea in the middle of the goal.
At the other end, United nearly broke the deadlock after 25 minutes as Mkhitaryan latched on to the ball from a Claudio Bravo error before firing a shot away, but his low effort was well-saved by the Chilean.
Yaya Toure made a marauding run through the middle of the park before finding Aguero, who took a crack at goal, with the Argentine’s strike looked to be heading towards the top right-hand corner, but De Gea was on hand to deny him.
Ander Herrera had a golden opportunity to hand United the lead a minute before the half-time interval, when the midfielder had a free header at goal after he was picked out by Rashford, but he couldn’t hit the target with his close-range header.
Guardiola’s side came out with intent in the second half as Sterling made his way into the United penalty area before shooting, but his low effort didn’t have enough power behind it to trouble De Gea at the near post.
City dominated possession after the hour mark as Aguero unleashed a thumping shot at goal, but it proved too powerful and sailed over the top of the crossbar.
The Red Devils struggled to hold on to possession and failed to carve out any real clear-cut opportunities in the final third, with City knocking on the United door.
City were dealt a blow in the 78th minute after Bravo caught a cross, but landed awkwardly, and the Chilean was unfortunately carried off on a stretcher and had to be replaced by Willy Caballero.
United were then reduced to 10-men when Marouane Fellaini was shown a red card after headbutting Aguero, seconds after receiving a yellow card for a challenge on the Argentine.
Substitute Gabriel Jesus thought he sealed the win for City in stoppage-time when he slotted a header past De Gea, however the Brazilian was flagged as offside.
The Citizens pressed forward in search of the winning goal in the final stages, but United managed to hold on until the final whistle to walk away with a point at the Etihad.
Image: Premier League website
