No fans, no goals: United, City draw Manchester derby 0-0

Being shut out of the Manchester derby won’t have appeared so unhealthy for followers in any case.

United and City drew 0-Zero in a colorless Premier League encounter that noticed the rivals handle solely two pictures every on the right track between them on Saturday.

How completely different from 279 days earlier when a United victory produced raucous celebrations from the victorious facet on what turned out to be the final weekend with full stadiums allowed.

The easing of England’s coronavirus restrictions has but to succeed in Manchester, with Old Trafford among the many 10 Premier League golf equipment not even allowed 2,000 followers not like the opposite 10 stadiums.

So the 183rd Manchester derby was the primary one in an empty stadium. It was solely the second time since 2010 that the rivals have performed out a scoreless draw, reflecting their wrestle to make an impression within the league this season.

“No fans is a different atmosphere,” City defender John Stones mentioned. “The derby is a massive occasion for us as players and more for the city and fans. It’s frustrating not be able to have anyone in the stadium at this time.”

United is seventh, 4 factors behind chief Tottenham, and City is some extent behind in eighth.

It’s unsurprising United was so ineffective in entrance of aim, given Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s facet has scored solely 3 times in its six league video games at Old Trafford — with two coming from penalties.

United thought it had gained a penalty at the beginning of the second half however Marcus Rashford was then noticed by the VAR to have been offside earlier than being fouled by Kyle Walker.

Having been eradicated from the Champions League on Tuesday, United did no less than keep away from one other damaging defeat.

But for City, the ambitions are about rather more than simply scrapping to get again into the highest 4 as Pep Guardiola’s facet tries to regain the trophy from Liverpool.

“We are a bit frustrated we haven’t come away with much but we fought so well,” Stones mentioned.