There are derbies that shake the very foundations of a city… and then there was this. A perfectly entertaining affair, one that got better as it went along, but one lacking in perceptive attacking chances. A showcase of controlled midfields and organised defences. Plus a couple of mutually beneficial points that keep each team right up at the top of the table.

It’s also quite a good result for the title race, to be fair. Five teams are now crammed in within three points of each other, two of them are West Ham and Leicester. After ten games last season Chelsea were still unbeaten and already four points clear of second and nine clear of fourth and fifth. Hooray for competition.

But it was a strange result all the same. Perhaps because it was the first drawn Manchester Derby in five years. Or maybe because both teams seemed so satisfied with the stalemate.

Manchester United named (a little surprisingly) a very similar team to that which drew with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League midweek. Not surprising tactically but because that game was in Russia. Juan Mata was the only change, coming in for Jesse Lingard who dropped to the bench. Martial stayed on the wing, Herrera at 10 and Rooney up top, the back four included Jones over Blind (fair enough against Bill Bony) and Valencia over Darmian (a little odd, but Darmian’s fallen out of favour somewhat since getting hauled in the Arsenal loss). Rojo played at left back where he’s done well recently.

United had a near full strength team to choose from, just Ashley Young, Paddy McNair and the long-term Luke Shaw unavailable. But as for City they were defined by who wasn’t there. Specifically no Aguero or Silva, both out for a while to come yet. Yaya Toure got the nod in the 10 role, which was a little odd, but it did mean that both the Ferns could start at the base of midfield: Fernando and Fernandinho. Dinho’s a top player who’s been very important to this side the last two seasons, Nando’s a more one-dimensional defensive player but he’s good at that at least. Having Yaya further forward was a fairly defensive choice too, since it was either him or Kevin De Bruyne (not known for his tracking back enthusiasm). KDB went out right instead, Sterling left and Bony up the very front. Vincent Kompany was good to return after being on the bench in the Champions League, he was partnered by summer signing Nicolas Otamendi.

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There’s plenty to talk about from this game but the contest itself won’t take too long. To begin with, nothing happened. Both teams did their usual thing, trying to establish possession and ease into the game. The first decent bit of attacking play came from Sterling and Dinho linking up on the left side of the box but Bubba’s shot was charged down with three United defenders lining up for the chance to deflect it away for a corner. De Bruyne had some moments too, though his crossing was nowhere near the standard of the link up stuff he managed now and then.

The home side had nothing to offer going forward in the first half. Now and then Martial was able to skip inside Sagna but things would break down after that. It was rare that they could commit a City defender and even rarer that they found the space to shoot. And when they did, they didn’t. Zero shots in the first half for Manchester United at Old Trafford. Zero. Not zero on target, but zero at all. City only had four themselves and they were all off target. There was one chance that fell for Yaya but his first time shot swept up and well wide, it was one of the rare times he found space in the attacking third without Smalling, Jones or Schneiderlin right up in his face. Similar can be said at the other end where the Ferns were able to isolate Rooney quite often and with Kompany playing quite deep, there was little room in behind either.

Thankfully the second half was better. United found a bit of enterprise, Martial driving infield, Herrera and Mata drifting into space for some support play and Schweinsteiger really getting up the park. He had the room to do that with the Ferns sitting deep and Schneiders doing a top job on his own as the midfield sledgehammer. Herrera had an early chance to shoot, deflected, and Schneiders was inches from turning in Smalling’s header across goal from a corner. Plus there was a penalty appeal turned down as Sterling and Herrera clattered into each other, then a sliding interception from Rojo rolled all the way into Mata’s path but Hart was sharp in coming out to deal with it.

Both teams made a few subs, Jesus Navas on for Sterling, Lingard on for Mata. With 15 to play, Mary Fellaini replaced Schweinsteiger and that gave United a final boost after their early second half probing had found no entry. Almost immediately Pellegrini took off Toure and replaced him with Martin Demichelis in midfield, effectively settling for a draw from that point. Fellaini was a nuisance in the middle, able to establish possession through strength and that entish force he seems to possess. Kelechi Iheanacho came on for Bony with nothing much to do but watch the play unfold behind him (he had three touches). With United flooding forward, City started misplacing passes under the pressure. That led to this, the best chance of the game…

Lingard unlucky not to score there, the United academy product so close to his first Premier League goal. Good run and a lovely ball from Martial.

Smalling also had a close call, poking one at the near post off a Fellaini nod down but Hart was good for it. A dominant second half for United, who defended superbly after the break but without the cutting edge to take the three points. City too will have felt they had more to offer in the first half but Kompany and Otamendi were outstanding just as Jones and Smalling were. Defensively, anyway, all four of those men were a bit sloppy with the ball a few times.

Like, that aspect of this game has to be applauded. There was some wonderful work by the back fours here, working tirelessly and clinically to shut down space and absolutely starve the two strikers. They were helped by some unimaginative attacking but that goes both ways and they often made them look more uninspired than they were.

In many ways, everyone just cancelled each other out. The midfield was stacked and that meant no room for the likes of De Bruyne and Mata to drift inside. Sterling couldn’t get on the ball often enough to really trouble Valencia (who himself benefitted a bit from Sterling’s defensive lapses) and while Martial was able to get by the first man a few times, sometimes the second too, he didn’t always know what to do next. Usually in these midfield scraps, the striker is hung out to dry both on the field and in the media. As it seems to be once more.

So let’s talk about Wayne Rooney, shall we?

It’s clear that he’s down on form and in his first game after his 30th birthday, people are being very quick to push the retirement papers on him. It seems more like a compatibility issue really. Van Gaal’s system calls for methodical build up, searching for space up and down the wings and waiting for the opening before going all in. It’s why they shoot so little and it’s why Rooney keeps fading out of games. One thing that Martial has done at centre forward is drift all the way out to the wings to get involved. Rooney has never been a high-percentage player, at his best he was a force of nature that was never afraid to take a blast. Now he seems terrified of that. Here’s a chance where he’d surely have taken a pop in the old days, instead he tries to feed in Martial but he does so too late and the French teen is offside.

He’s thinking too much and he’s hesitating. Martial is obviously the more effective striker.

But the thing is: that doesn’t mean he ought to play there. Putting Martial there means having Depay on the left, probably. Depay’s been turning the ball over far too often, at least when Rooney loses it there’s cover. Martial on the left means this team has genuine width as his ability on the dribble means he doesn’t have to keep cutting inside all the time. Were Ashley Young available then he may have started, but he wasn’t. Also, while Rooney could play 10, that’d mean no Herrera, who was fantastic here. And the third choice striker is probably Fellaini – imagine the groans if he’d started there in a Derby! It all makes sense within the bigger picture, it’s just a shame that managers never wanna explain this stuff and take some of the pressure off themselves and the players. Can’t show their hands or whatever, as if other teams don’t actively scout them anyway.

“Sir, I have to talk every week about Rooney. Why? I don’t give any opinion. Sick of it. You have your opinion, write it.” – Louis Van Gaal in his post-match presser.

And to be fair to Rooney, he toiled hard even for little result. His touch was heavy and his passing erratic, yet he was being bullied off the ball whenever he touched it anyway. Unfortunately ‘Bad Rooney’ is becoming a recurring theme and there’s a little bit of the self-fulfilling prophecy about it. Yes, he should be better. To quote a Football Manager cliché: “He’s just not acting on instinct right now”. But Van Gaal probably deserves a bit of the blame here too.

As a number 9, Rooney needs to find a way to act as the pivot of attacks. Hold it up, lay it off. Only there are hardly ever any runners running off him (again, two sides here: if Rooney holds it up better, they've got more opportunity). This is where he needs to go to them as much as they come to him. Martial is willing to get much wider, which gives the wingers the chance to attack inside and the midfielders space to run into.

Having said that, it’s probably not a good thing that his two best moments here were defensive plays on set pieces. Oh, that and getting staples in the noggin after a head clash opened up a fresh wound. Look away if you’re squeamish!

Too late.

As for Billy Bony, he had a very similar game to Rooney but with even fewer flourishes. His very much a backup for Aguero in this squad and he probably suffers from being too different to Aguero (as if anyone is like Aguero). This City side isn’t about to suddenly start using him like Andy Carroll, he has to adapt to them. Give him time, the guy’s a predator. Goals will come whether he plays well or not.

This game wasn’t one for either striker to spread their wings, regardless of how they were playing. This was 90 full minutes of effort and application. One for the footy nerds who like seeing how teams win and establish possession, how they break up counter attacks and blunt opposition playmakers. It was full of quality, just not the type the neutrals prefer. Neither side will be too disappointed.

Man of the Match: Let’s go with the consensus vote and give it to Nick Otamendi, who was strong and decisive, consistently hounding Rooney off the ball and making 10 clearances as well. His best game in England and exactly what the Sky Blues were hoping for when they shelled out for him.

The Good

Harry Hotspur’s Hatty – He scores goals, don’t ya know?

Arsenal’s Title Chances – Having ground out a tough win over Everton in the rain, the Gunners have now won their last four games by an aggregate score of 10-1, and that includes matches against Manchester United and Bayern Munich. They’re due a slip-up any time now… but it still hasn’t happened. It’s the merciless way they’re hitting teams on the attack that’s most impressive, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are playing tremendously, plus there’s some steel at the back too. Maybe a top goalie really was all they needed?

Big Sam’s Ego – Well it shan’t be shrinking after that now will it? Newcastle were the better team until Fab Coloccini was sent off but Mr Allardyce has never been one to look below the bottom line. This win keeps up that unbelievable record of new Sunderland managers beating Newcastle in their second games in charge – and it’ll mean that bit extra to a fella who still harbours a grudge over his dismissal there and against a manager who he feels robbed the England job off him way back when.

The Bad

Tactics Tim – He always wore his emotions on his sleeve but lately they were pretty mopey. Villa backed him with some decent money and the faith to run this team after a great start last season, but he’s not had anything close to the results he needed. The biggest worry is that the fixtures actually haven’t been that hard, yet Bournemouth are the only team they’ve been able to beat. He called the game against Swansea a must-win, he said that himself, and they went and blew a 1-0 second half lead to lose at home. Can’t argue with the sacking after that, not when there’s no sign of any semblance of defence and with their next three games being Spurs (A), City (H) and Everton (A). Adios, Mr Sherwood.

Artur Boruc – Check out the highlights of the Bournemouth-Spurs game and you’ll see a Tottenham side playing with flowing, ruthless optimism, Eriksen’s assist for one of Kane’s goal was sublime. But you’ll also see a Bournemouth keeper having an absolute howler. Brad Guzan was poor for Villa too, there’s really not much you can do to cover for a keeper’s error. It’s why the position’s so hard and it’s why they get so much blame but them’s the breaks. You have to be better than that. One blunder is maybe excusable if it doesn’t happen too often but Boruc was directly responsible for three goals in their 5-1 defeat, giving away a penalty and spilling two shots at the feet of attackers.

The Ugly

Whatever Jose Mourinho’s Up To – "You don't get good and funny headlines from me now," he warned the other day. Next thing he’s sent from the stands and refuses to speak to the media. Unfortunately that’s a headline in itself, whether there’s a fresh quote in there or not. Whatever’s going wrong on the pitch, it needs to stop being compounded by the behaviour off of it.

When You Leave the PA On – Well, sort of. The story’s not quite as it seems but it’s still pretty funny. Let this fella explain it for ya.