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MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Manchester United had a penalty thrown out when their derby with Manchester City ended in a disappointing 0-0 draw in the Premier League on Saturday.
United received a penalty in the 48th minute when Kyle Walker kicked Marcus Rashford’s foot in the box, but the decision was overturned after the VAR found that the United striker had been in an offside position.
The result left United in seventh place with 20 points with City one point behind eighth after 11 games.
Leaders Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have 24 points from 11 games before playing at Crystal Palace and Fulham respectively on Sunday.
With no fans inside a cold Old Trafford due to COVID-19 restrictions, the passion and energy of the Manchester derby was absent, but United will likely be the happier of the two teams.
Following his exit from the Champions League at the hands of RB Leipzig on Tuesday, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed to avoid the kind of result that could have raised serious questions about his role.
The Norwegian put his team into one of their more conservative tactical variations with just two forwards, three mainly defensive midfielders and Bruno Fernandes tasked with creating starts.
If the job was to ensure United restrained City and achieved a meritorious tie, then the structure worked, even if it was far from exciting for fans watching it at home.
United were disciplined, held firm at the back and maintained their form on the field, leaving Solskjaer with some satisfaction at the end of a week of testing.
“In my time against Manchester City that is the best performance we have had. It is not the best result, but the best performance,” said the United manager.
City had created the best chance until the penalty incident: a shot by Riyad Mahrez blocked by David De Gea in the 35th minute with Kevin De Bruyne unable to capitalize on the loose ball.
United’s best chance came at 54 when Paul Pogba placed Rashford down the left, but the forward slipped when he fired harmlessly wide and his first goal attempt didn’t come until a single attempt by Fernandes against City goalkeeper Ederson from Fernandes at 88.
City lacked the glitz and brilliance of their best performances, using Rodrigo and Fernandinho as a pair of containment midfielders, indicating that manager Pep Guardiola was also unwilling to go all out in this match.
It was the sixth consecutive game, in the League and Europe, in which City had kept a clean sheet and Guardiola was happy to have limited United.
“They score when they can run but we control them very well,” said the Spaniard, who acknowledged that the occasion was far from what is usually presented in the game.
“It’s not a derby, it would be different with the people and maybe they would push more. It’s different every week without the people,” he said.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Ken Ferris and Clare Fallon)
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