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Sunday 06 April 2025 19:25
The 196th Manchester derby ended in stalemate as neither United or City could find a winning goal at Old Trafford.
After a game in which clear-cut chances were few and far between and the action focused more on scuffles and missed opportunities, there were still many positives to take from a United point of view.
The fight and passion that Ruben Amorim has demanded from his side was on full display, with the likes of Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte in particular getting stuck in at the Theatre of Dreams with well-timed tackles and crucial interceptions.
We ran our customary Man of the Match poll after the draw and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was a creative force who stood out among the crowd.
Bruno was his all-action self against City, covering what seemed like every blade of grass as he looked to find an opening for the Reds.
Every fluid United passage of play had our skipper at the heart and, on another day, Fernandes could have had a goal or an assist.
He wasn’t afraid to put in hard tackles either (after all, it was a derby), and also managed to time other sliding challenges to regain possession for his team.
Fernandes gained a whopping 63 per cent of the vote after the full-time whistle.
Speaking of regaining possession, the partnership of Casemiro and Ugarte was one that City struggled to penetrate throughout, with Casemiro also showing an impressive range of passing to get his team-mates in good areas.
Prior to Sunday’s match the Uruguayan had covered the joint-second highest distance without the ball per 90 of any players in Europe’s top-five leagues and after another energetic display at Old Trafford – and even though he was substituted after 71 minutes for Mason Mount – we don’t imagine those stats have changed too much.
Casemiro gained the second-highest share in our Man of the Match voting, with nine per cent.
Noussair Mazraoui was another Red who gained attention against City for his defensive display, not giving Omar Marmoush a sniff throughout the game and similarly denying both Jeremy Doku when the winger threatened after coming off the bench.
Mazraoui’s last-ditch tackle on Phil Foden soon after half-time, denying the forward an almost-certain goal, was one of the game’s most important interventions.
Nous got three per cent of our Man of the Match vote, while Andre Onana earned seven per cent for some important saves in the second half.
Left-sided duo Alejandro Garnacho and Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu both got five per cent each, after threatening throughout too.
On many occasions, Garnacho and Dorgu created openings for their team-mates and Alejandro could feel like he should have scored in the first half.
But it is our captain, again, who wins our Man of the Match award for the Manchester derby. Well done, Bruno!
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Sunday 06 April 2025 19:25
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