Ole is content with stalemate

Manchester – Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (above) said his side produced their best performance of his time in charge against Manchester City even though an uninspiring 0- 0 draw at Old Trafford did little for their chances of winning the Premier League.

After crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage in midweek, the draw at least saved Solskjaer from another defeat that would have brought more scrutiny of his position as manager.

A share of the spoils also keeps United one point better off than their local rivals.

United are seventh, five points off Tottenham and Liverpool at the top, while City slip to ninth.

But there was little to suggest either side will fight their way into the title race.

United beat City three times last season, but Solskjaer pointed to the smash and grab nature of those victories as Pep Guardiola’s men were easily undone on the counter-attack.

“In my time against City, that’s the best performance we’ve had. Not the best result, but the best performance,” said Solskjaer.

“We beat them last season but those were different games, we counter-attacked.

“Today was the most we’ve been in the game, we kept them away from our box more. Overall, a draw, everyone should be happy with that.”

The Red Devils have won just one of their opening six home league games and look set for another campaign where a top-four fi nish rather than a title tilt will be the target.

City matched a club record with a sixth straight clean sheet as Guardiola has set about improving their defensive record.

That has come at the cost of the thrilling football that they showed in their two title-winning campaigns under the Catalan in 2017/18 and 2018/19, as the visitors were careful not to be caught on the break.

“Take a look last season how they beat us,” said Guardiola. “The quality of this team is they can play when you let them run. The important thing is we were so solid, we didn’t concede and on average had more chances. –