Kevin De Bruyne‘s final Manchester derby was not exactly one to remember for anyone concerned. Check out the best facts and Opta data in our Man Utd vs Man City stats page.
Manchester United and Manchester City played out an almost entirely eventless 0-0 draw on Sunday at Old Trafford, though both seemed happy enough with a point on the final whistle.
Kevin De Bruyne started his last ever Manchester derby having announced that this will be his final season at City on Friday, but even he couldn’t provide any stardust on an afternoon that saw both teams struggle to create anything.
The draw was a blow to City’s hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, leaving them in fifth place and just a point ahead of in-form Aston Villa and two ahead of Newcastle United, who have two games in hand.
United moved back ahead of Tottenham Hotspur into 13th place, though remain seven points off the top half of the table.
An exciting first minute belied what was to follow when Alejandro Garnacho burst through on goal, but Rúben Dias brought the Argentine down just outside the box, receiving a very early yellow card. In fact, it was the earliest card (38 seconds) in a Premier League Manchester derby on record (since 2006-07). Bruno Fernandes could only hit the resulting free-kick into the City wall, though.
Phil Foden fired a shot wide of André Onana‘s near post, but most of the notable chances in the first half came from United counter attacks. Garnacho almost got on the end of a ball across the box, while Patrick Dorgu and Manuel Ugarte both shot wide from quick breaks.
City had plenty of the ball but struggled to create openings, somewhat typified by Ilkay Gündogan having a shot from distance in the 39th minute that just fizzed wide of Onana’s far post, while Casemiro had a shot moments later saved comfortably by Ederson also from outside the box.
The visitors best chance of the game came early in the second half when Omar Marmoush slid Foden in, but the England international took a poor first touch and then sliced his shot wide under pressure from Noussair Mazraoui.
De Bruyne was kept relatively quiet but he did play a dangerous ball across the United box early in the second half before having a shot from the edge of the box after cutting inside onto his left foot, but it was comfortably held by Onana.
Jérémy Doku replaced Foden before the hour mark. Foden has now failed to score or assist in seven straight Premier League appearances for the first time since February 2023, while he also only completed 11 of his 18 passes (61.1%) at Old Trafford.
Real chances were still at a premium, though Marmoush forced two saves from Onana, first from a free-kick, then from a fierce strike from the edge of the box following a corner, which the Cameroonian goalkeeper did well to spot in the bright Manchester sunshine. Notably with it occurring in the 69th minute, it was City’s last shot of the game as they faded in the latter stages.
Both managers called on their subs, with one of Ruben Amorim’s, Joshua Zirkzee, having United’s best chance of the game as he turned a Dorgu ball across towards goal, but Ederson did well to parry it away, while Mason Mount saw his rebound blocked by Rico Lewis.
There was a distinct lack of quality on show in Manchester but not fight, at least from the hosts. Casemiro made 11 tackles in the game, the most by a United player in a Premier League match on record (since 2006-07) along with Owen Hargreaves vs Liverpool in December 2007 and Patrice Evra v Portsmouth in August 2008.
The game ended goalless, though, with the fact it was De Bruyne’s final derby probably being the only way anyone will remember it ever happened in years to come.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Man Utd vs Man City stats from their Premier League meeting at Old Trafford.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Man Utd vs Man City: Post-Match Facts
This was just the third Manchester derby to finish 0-0 since the start of 2016-17 across all competitions, previously doing so in April 2017 and December 2020, both in the Premier League.
Since Rúben Amorim’s first game in charge of Manchester United, only Leicester City (12) have failed to score in more Premier League games than the Red Devils (8).
Manchester City have kept a clean sheet in successive Premier League games for the first time since May 2024, though they’ve failed to score in consecutive away matches in the competition for the first time since December 2020.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
/SI202601151081.webp?ssl=1 "Racing Bulls showcase 2026 livery at launch event in Detroit")
