Manchester United and Manchester City played out a dismal derby stalemate behind closed doors at Old Trafford.
In a game devoid of quality and excitement, neither side were able to carve out the opportunity that could make a difference amid the eerie silence of the so-called ‘Theatre Of Dreams’.
Gabriel Jesus was off target and Riyad Mahrez brought a routine save from David de Gea with City’s best first-half chances while Scott McTominay was agonisingly inches away from Victor Lindelof’s flick as United sought the breakthrough.
United thought they had a second-half penalty when Kyle Walker fouled Marcus Rashford but the decision was overturned as VAR revealed the United striker was offside.
It led to an unsatisfactory conclusion for both sides, leaving United seventh in the Premier League and City a place below them.
Manchester City kept their sixth successive clean sheet since losing at Tottenham in November and it was a good night for John Stones in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate.
The 26-year-old, who played in England’s run to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals in Russia, has quietly rebuilt his form and confidence in the past few weeks and was impressive once again as United were kept at bay with relative ease.
Stones was comfortable on the ball but also did what he had to do when the straightforward defensive work was required as he continued the rehabilitation after his career looked to have stalled.
City manager Pep Guardiola showed faith to select Stones ahead of Aymeric Laporte, a sign of how satisfied he is with his form, and the defender did not let him down.
And while it is early days and Stones still has much work to do, the manner of his performance will not have gone unnoticed by Southgate, who has left Stones out of recent England squads but has an important vacancy to fill after the serious injury to Liverpool’s Joe Gomez.
This was a game which left few satisfied – but Stones will certainly be one of them.
