FELLAINI HIT BY RED MIST
United hothead off in stalemate
MAROUANE FELLAINI saw red in a moment of madness as a frantic Manchester derby boiled over at the Etihad.
United’s Belgian midfielder was dismissed for violent conduct in the 84th minute.
Fellaini first bundled over Sergio Aguero and picked up a yellow card.
Seconds later he clipped Aguero’s heels and when the Argentine confronted him, Fellaini appeared to headbutt the striker.
Aguero went down, leaving referee Martin Atkinson no option but to give Fellaini a straight red card.
Pep Guardiola was left shaking his head in frustration on the sidelines, though, as his men let their bitter rivals off the hook.
The latest episode of English football’s biggest soap opera was full of incident.
All it lacked was goals as United survived the onslaught and found time to miss a few chances of their own.
This wasn’t a must-win game for both
MAN CITY ...... 0 MAN UTD ...... 0
sides, it was more of a ‘dare not lose’ clash considering the rivals’ respective positions in the table.
City went into it just one point and a place above Jose Mourinho’s men, who were looking to overtake their neighbours and move into the top four for the first time since mid-September.
But it was the hosts who dominated possession from the start, with Yaya Toure rolling back the years to win the midfield battle.
Kevin De Bruyne was at the heart of everything positive City did and set up the first opening on nine minutes with a low cross from the right. Aguero seemed destined to score but saw his shot hit David De Gea’s left-hand post.
De Bruyne then flashed a free-kick across the face of De Gea’s goal but nobody was on hand to finish it off, before the Belgian saw the United keeper do well to cling on to his curling shot.
Threat
The visitors seemed content to soak up the pressure and look to hit City on the break with the pace of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Twice Rashford gave Nicolas Otamendi a headstart but still beat him in a race to the ball, although each time the threat came to nothing.
But it was City’s keeper Claudio Bravo – who had to be replaced after being carried off injured in the 79th minute when he landed awkwardly – who almost gifted United the lead on 25 minutes.
Martial’s cross looped into the box off Fernandinho and Bravo palmed the ball straight at Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian couldn’t believe his luck but Bravo did well to get to his feet and block the United forward’s shot.
Toure then burst through midfield and set up Aguero, whose curling effort was superbly saved by the impressive De Gea.
Aguero blazed high and wide moments later before Aleksandar Kolarov tried his luck, forcing De Gea into a sharp save down low to his right.
United blew a golden chance to go ahead against the run of play on the stroke of half time. Rashford curled in a dangerous free-kick which founds its way to Ander Herrera unmarked at the back post but he couldn’t hit the target with his header.
The second half continued in similar fashion to the first, with City looking the more likely to end the stalemate.
And when substitute Gabriel Jesus finally put the ball in the net in added time, it was ruled out for offside. MAN CITY (4-2-3-1): Bravo (Caballero 79); Zabaleta, Kompany, Otamendi, Kolarov; Toure, Fernandinho; Sterling (Jesus 86), De Bruyne, Sane (Navas 80); Aguero. Subs: Sagna, Fernando, Clichy, Garcia. MAN UTD (4-3-3): De Gea; Valencia, Bailly, Blind, Darmian; Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini; Mkhitaryan (Fosu-Mensah 86), Rashford (Young 90), Martial (Lingard 80). Subs: Romero, Rooney, Shaw, Tuanzebe. Referee: Martin Atkinson.