This was a Manchester derby in the English Premier League that won't go down in the history books as one to remember or savour. Manchester City huffed and puffed but could not do enough with all their possession, while Manchester United did what most Jose Mourinho teams have done in the past – shut the opposition out.
At the end of the 90 minutes, the biggest talking point was the sending off of Marouane Fellaini, who did what Marouane Fellaini has done quite often in his career – lose his head by, well, using his head on Sergio Aguero.
After receiving a yellow card a little earlier for a foul on the same man, Fellaini would feel aggrieved at Aguero going down a little too easily for a later foul, which he felt was to try and induce the referee to give him a second yellow.
There was the modern argy bargy between the two players and then Fellaini went in with the headbutt, Aguero went down and referee Martin Atkinson had no choice but to show a red card to the Manchester United midfielder.
"I spoke with Marouane, he's very disappointed, he feels that it's a red card because he's Marouane Fellaini," Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho said. "I spoke with Martin and Martin told me that in his opinion it was a red card.
"I didn't watch but probably I can guess it is a bit of a red card and it is a bit of a very experienced, smart Argentinian player. He says that Sergio Aguero was intelligent, the way he reacted, but the only thing I know is that we had to play almost 15 minutes with a tired team."
That red card was shown after Fellaini had a decent game for United, who were well organised and looked sound at the back, despite going through an injury crisis, which saw Jose Mourinho, rather strangely, call out his own players Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, despite the two defenders still struggling with injuries.
Manchester City had possession, and plenty of it, and while they dominated the game, especially in the second half, they just could not hit the back of the net. When they did, Gabriel Jesus' goal was ruled out for offside.
Aguero was the biggest culprit when it came to profligacy in front of goal, with the Argentine looking like he was going to have an off day when he hit the outside of the post from close-range off a brilliant cross from Kevin De Bruyne early on, when he really should have been bulging the net.
From there, it was one frustrated missed chance after another, as City failed to find a way past David De Gea in the Manchester United goal.
"We tried to have the ball and attack like we have tried to do all season," Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said. "It was much harder against a team who haven't lost in 23 – it was not easy but we tried. It's one point and the fight keeps going."
Manchester City stay in fourth on 65 points, one behind Liverpool, but having played a game less. Manchester United are a further point behind and also with a game in hand.
