Manchester United had the ‘best performance’ against Manchester City

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised his team’s “best performance” against Manchester City despite having had just two shots on goal in a severe 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

Solskjaer won three of the four games against Pep Guardiola’s team last season, but despite never bothering City goalkeeper Ederson, the Norwegian later insisted that the draw was the best performance of the derby during his time as manager.

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“In my day, it’s the best performance against City, not the best result, but the best performance,” said Solskjaer. “Like in possession of the ball. Of course,

“I think last year at the Etihad we could have beaten them from 10 to 25 minutes, some incredible counterattack goals, but we had 30 percent possession and the second half we held on. We developed and today I didn’t have enough.

The tie, which featured just four shots on target from both teams, was only the fourth in the last 30 Premier League games.

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Steve Nicol talks about what both sides in the Manchester derby can get out of the goalless draw.

It came just four days after United’s anticipated exit from the Champions League and Solskjaer said he was impressed with the way his players recovered from the setback.

“It was a huge setback and a mental challenge for everyone,” Solskjaer said. “We knew today was going to be a great game. The mental energy you expended trying to recover from Tuesday was high. The guys deserve praise.”

City had the best chances and David De Gea made a good save to deny Riyad Mahrez while VAR ruled out a penalty that was awarded to United because Marcus Rashford had drifted offside in preparation.

“We didn’t lose and we lost last season,” Guardiola said. “We fight to create chances because they are very strong. We had to be careful but they didn’t get anything, so that’s a good point.”

“On average, we had more chances than they did. We had enough to win, but the game was close and a good point for us.”