Manchester is grey after drab derby draw

Manchester United 0 Manchester City 0: Twice in the final five minutes, Manchester United came close to producing the goal that could have lifted them level on points at the top of the Premier League table but given the drab affair that had preceded that finale, anything other than a goalless stalemate would have seemed inappropriate.

The most expensively assembled squads in the history of this, or any other, football fixture was, to use a euphemism, one for the purists.

Yes, the quality of defending could be admired for the vast majority of the game but, it is safe to assume, the new television deal which places a valuation of £11 million on each and every Premier League fixture was not signed with the intention of showcasing clearing headers and full-backs marshalling wingers out of play. Occasionally, only occasionally, Anthony Martial threatened to elevate proceedings and his superb 84th-minute ball allowed substitute Jesse Lingard to sprint ahead of City’s back line and produce an audacious lob which struck the crossbar.