In a tight and tense afternoon of football, Manchester United and Manchester City played out a 0-0 draw.
The result was a club record sixth consecutive clean sheet for City but will represent a missed chance for them pick up a big win against a downtrodden United. For The Red Devils, this was a quality draw when their morale was down.
Here’s how the players rated at Old Trafford:
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Home Side
David de Gea – 7 – Didn’t have to do much, but was generally solid. One big stop from Mahrez.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7 – Struggled a bit defensively first-half but stepped up second period to shut down any attacks down his flank. A game-high 4 tackles and 3 clearances.
Victor Lindelof – 8 – Very impressive on the ball with his long-passes, attacked set-pieces nicely with some very tasty flick-ons, and defended well besides that. This is the level United need from him all the time.
Harry Maguire – 8 – Defended well for the most part. A couple of risky tackles but generally dominated
Luke Shaw – 7 – An impressive showing albeit he was never seriously tested.
Scott McTominay – 8 – Absolutely relentless in applying defensive pressure. Never really that great with the ball albeit he did help United pass their way through City on a couple of occasions with true precision. Won possession back a team-high 8 times.
Fred – 6 – Picked up an early knock and although he didn’t go off it felt like he did as his influence waned.
Man Utd are the only team in the Premier League this season yet to score a goal at home from their strikers.
The wait goes on. pic.twitter.com/zGIWEPHMfd
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 12, 2020
Paul Pogba – 6 – Showed some superb touches with the ball in the first-half. Lovely passes in behind. Faded badly second period.
Bruno Fernandes – 7 – Some very bright movement early and consistently looked the United player most likely to create danger. Took several shots but couldn’t make anything happen.
Mason Greenwood – 6 – Worked hard but could never get into the game.
Marcus Rashford – 5 – Out of the game for the most part. Starved of service.
Substitutes:
Anthony Martial (for Greenwood 74′) – n/a – Added nothing.
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Manchester City
Ederson – 6 – Had almost nothing to do.
Kyle Walker – 6 – Absolutely devastated Paul Pogba and Fred with one run in the second-half.
John Stones – 8 – A rock solid display at the heart of defence. Stopped any and every attempt to penetrate and was voted man of the match as a result. Could this be the start of the Stonesaissance? It’s early days yet, but that was one of the few bright spots in the game.
Ruben Dias – 7 – Impressive at the back albeit he wasn’t tested all that much by United as Stones took care of much of the attacks.
Joao Cancelo – 6 – Dribbled well but wasteful in possession.
Rodri – 7 – Did his job by winning the ball back and recycling possession well. More passes in United’s half than half the United players managed. Could do nothing about City’s anaemic attack.
Fernandinho – 7 – Hard tackles as per usual but little else.
Man City have now failed to score in their last 242 minutes on the road in the PL, their longest wait for an away goal under Pep Guardiola.
They last netted away from home on Halloween. 👻 pic.twitter.com/NMKY4XdNuE
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 12, 2020
Kevin De Bruyne – 7 – Superb pass to release Mahrez that should have resulted in a goal. Created more chances than any other player on the pitch, and was let down by his team-mates both in terms of his supply but also the finishing to his pass. Obviously no City player is as talented as him, but is anyone as hungry as him? That’s got to be a real concern for Guardiola.
Riyad Mahrez – 5 – Lovely pass to Jesus very early but the game will be defined by Mahrez’s absolutely horrible miss when played 1-v-1 by De Bruyne. The Algerian should have won the game
Raheem Sterling – 6 – One superb dribble and chance after sitting Wan-Bissaka down promised a lot, but the winger never really followed up on it with anything that really hurt United.
Gabriel Jesus – 5 – A poor miss when played in by Mahrez, and generally slow to react to everything after.
Substitutes:
Ferran Torres (for Mahrez 66′) – 6 – Added a bit of thrust when introduced but couldn’t hurt United.