Blunt and tame, this 196th Manchester derby was a curio that failed to ignite despite the cross-town rivalry. Towards the close, Joshua Zirkzee had the contest’s clearest opening: the No 11 swung a boot at Patrick Dorgu’s cross and connected cleanly but Ederson saved, cat-like, and Manchester City escaped; as they did, also, when a later penalty shout for Mateo Kovacic’s challenge on Casemiro was correctly waved away.
So this finished as a non-event in the sun, with scant incident and only marginally more goalmouth action.
