Man City, Man United in stalemate as Fellaini sees red

Marouane Fellaini was sent off as Manchester City and Manchester United settled for a share of the spoils in the Manchester derby, with the two neighbours playing out a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium.

Neither side were able to find a breakthrough on Thursday night, meaning City remain fourth in the Premier League table, one point and one position above rivals United.

City almost opened the scoring inside the ninth minute, with Kevin De Bruyne sending a ball in from the right which Sergio Aguero could only strike against the post from just a few yards out.

Claudio Bravo nearly handed United the opener after 25 minutes when he spilt Anthony Martial’s cross, but the City keeper recovered well to deny Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s effort on the follow-up.

Aguero came close for City again just after the half-hour mark when his strike from the edge of the box was saved by David De Gea, and he was involved once more a few minutes later as he turned his marker before firing just over the bar.

City began to dominate proceedings as Aleksandar Kolarov saw a strike saved at De Gea’s near post in the 36th minute, before Raheem Sterling blazed an effort over shortly after.


United, however, had a great chance to break the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Marcus Rashford’s free kick found the unmarked Ander Herrera at the far post, but the midfielder failed to hit the target with his header.

City started the second half the stronger with both Sterling and Aguero creating chances of their own before seeing soft efforts saved by De Gea.

And the hosts continued to pile on the pressure as the half wore on, with De Bruyne sending a low drive from the edge of the box into the side netting and Aguero firing another effort over moments later.

It was all City by the time Nicolas Otamedi wasted an opportunity in the 67th minute, with the defender meeting Leroy Sane’s corner only to head well over.

But despite Pep Guardiola’s side’s dominance they struggled to properly break down the United defence, with the game lacking many chances in its closing stages.

There was, however, time for Fellaini to receive his marching orders, picking up a red card for appearing to head-butt Aguero with five minutes left on the clock, while Gabriel Jesus also made his return from injury from off the bench late on and had a goal chalked off for offside in stoppage time.