M’BORO V CITY City stopped Reds playing, says Nico

NICOLAS Otamendi believes City were able to shut down those United players who ‘could make a difference’ in the derby.

The Blues had 69 percent possession against the Reds and limited the visitors to just one shot on target in Thursday’s 0-0 draw.

With John Stones out with a muscular injury, Otamendi again partnered skipper Vincent Kompany in the heart of the defence.

Although he struggled with the pace of Marcus Rashford in the first half, the Argentine got tighter to the 19-year-old after the break.

And, in a throwback to last season, it seems having City’s skipper alongside him in defence helped immensley.

“We all know what kind of player Kompany is – his personality is very strong and he always tries to help the team,” he said. “His injuries didn’t help, but he is a great player.

“For the whole game we were very controlled. In the first half they did have a couple of opportunities, but we were mainly in their half.

“They do have players that can make a difference but they weren’t able to.”

And, although City have struggled to kill off teams at times this season, Otamendi feels their approach will pay dividends.

“Having the ball gives you a better chance of hurting your opponent, but we didn’t have the effectiveness to score,” he said.

“But those opportunities get better with every game that goes on, and that is what we aim to do – this season and next season as well.” YAYA Toure has unfinished business with United that he would like to stretch beyond this season.

The midfielder has been a colossus for City during his seven years at the club and showed he still brings value to the team in this week’s derby.

Pep Guardiola is prepared to let Toure leave at the end of the season when his contract runs out, should he wish.

The decision to shelve all contract talks until the summer allows other clubs to try to convince the player to leave and his talkative agent has even suggested United could be a potential destination.

That though, would mean Toure giving up on a dream he has had since he signed for City in 2010 when he is close to seeing it become reality.

Arriving in Manchester while Sir Alex Ferguson was still in his pomp, the Ivorian set himself the stiff task of making the Blues the best team in the city.

With the team on course to finish above their nearest rivals for a fifth time, seeing United fans celebrating a draw at the Etihad on Thursday highlighted how the balance of power has shifted in that time.

However, Toure – who is set to start against Middlesbrough tomorrow – is not yet ready to call it mission accomplished.

“It is a big change because in the past United were always able to dominate,” he said.

“They were always able to control and win games, and seeing the fans celebrating like that it shows that City have come close. All the times we finish above them in the season, it shows City are doing very well.

“Of course, the history and achievements of United is much stronger, but we are coming.

“They know now we are difficult to play and they tried to do their best to defend and use the counter attack.

“We played well but when you don’t win it is difficult to take. We missed that last pass or goal.”

Toure again reiterated his desire to stay at City beyond this season, but added: “It will depend on the club. I will just do my job and we will see.”

Wherever he is playing his football, the veteran will keep a close eye on both Manchester clubs.

Their form back in the early months of the season suggested both would be slugging it out for the Premier League title. But they had fallen away by January, leaving regret on both sides of the city. For the Blues, the main improvement Toure wants is in the finishing department. They had close to 20 shots against United but never really looked like threatening David de Gea’s goal. He is expecting more from the team next year - and more from their noisy neighbours.

“United are building something very interesting,” he said.

“We have to be aware of that, but I think City are going to be much, much stronger as well.

“Next year we are going to expect more and I hope United are going to attack a little bit more.

“City are always fighting for the title and this year was quite disappointing. We play well, control the opponent, dominate the game, but then you see the result at the end and we’ve lost or we win by a small gap. We need to work on our finishing to be honest.”