Manchester United and Manchester City played out a fairly dull 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon.
It has been a pretty underwhelming season for both Manchester clubs and it clearly had an impact as Manchester United drew with Manchester City at Old Trafford.
United’s struggles in front of goal continued with Rasmus Hojlund starved of service once again.
Alejandro Garnacho burst through on goal in the opening minute but was brought down by Ruben Dias. It was a fast start from the Red Devils but there was a severe lack of entertaining play from then on.
The one shining light was once again Bruno Fernandes, who returned to an attacking position and ran the show for United creatively.
Bruno Fernandes responds to Manchester derby criticism
Fernandes starred for United, but he was surrounded by players on both teams who looked worryingly comfortable sharing the points.
After the match, United legend Gary Neville described the game as “robotic” on Sky Sports.
“They have been micro-managed to within an inch of their lives. It was so robotic,” Neville said.
“It wasn’t good enough and I am disappointed. It’s a Manchester derby and it should have more blood, thunder and risk than that.”
However, Fernandes fired back at the criticism with his post-match comments.
“I think there was a lot of fouls. There was a lot of moments, but it can’t be any more like it was in the past,” Fernandes said.
“A lot of things have changed with VAR. I’ve played in derbies, also without VAR, and I know what it is, but with VAR nowadays, you can’t do that.”
Bruno Fernandes stats prove he can keep his head high
United went toe-to-toe with City and came away with a point and a clean sheet. With better decisions in the final third, it easily could have been a victory for Amorim’s side.
Ultimately, it was a fairly eventless match but Fernandes was at the heart of everything good that United did… again.
Fernandes’ match stats prove he is one of very few players who can leave Old Trafford knowing they did everything to try and pick up a win.
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Touches | 70 |
| Passes completed | 93% (40/43) |
| Key passes | 3 |
| Long passes completed | 100% (5/5) |
| Dribbles completed | 75% (3/4) |
| Duels won | 57% (8/14) |
Fernandes created more chances than any other United player and amassed an expected assists (xA) tally of 0.53.
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