Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City

There were people here who had travelled from New York, some more from India, to see a special, important match. A long way to come for this show, that. To be fair, a bus ride from Salford was barely worth the fare.

Yes, there are derbies with less quality, but they tend to involve summer fetes and donkeys, not the elite of the English game.

It was a match that brought back memories of United’s encounter with Chelsea at the start of David Moyes’s brief reign. Jose Mourinho played without a striker and United may as well have. England manager Roy Hodgson was there and said he really enjoyed it. He was in attendance on Sunday, too. Maybe his take on what constitutes fun has changed, because he had disappeared long before the end. 

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United talisman Wayne Rooney rides a challenge from City defender Bacary Sagna during a lacklustre Manchester derby stalemate