London (AFP)

Manchester United and Manchester City drew (0-0) on Saturday, on the 12th day of the Premier League, at the end of a match without great passion, which does not fix or hurt anyone.

The two teams remaining provisionally 7th and 8th with 20 and 19 points, with one game late, while Tottenham and Liverpool, at the top of the standings, have 24.

The two teams which remained on positive series in the league, after a delicate start to the season, especially seemed not to want to see their favorable cycle stop.

United owed their fans revenge after their pitiful elimination from the Champions League in Leipzig on Tuesday, but the contract was only half filled.

Positioned in 4-4-2 with Paul Pogba holder and slightly shifted to the left, while Bruno Fernandes on the right, with a Fred-Scott McTominay duo between the two, the Red Devils had chosen to be part of the heart of the game.

And as on the wings Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka took the upper hand over Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez, David De Gea had a very calm start to the evening.

On the other hand, in their offensive expression, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were extremely poor, framing just two shots - just like City - without causing Ederson to tremble much.

They almost got a penalty for a Kyle Walker foul on Marcus Rashford, just after the break, but VAR went through it and detected an offside from the forward early in the action.

- City remains waterproof -

In the end, it is all the same City, which had rested eight of its eleven holders in midweek against Marseille (3-0), which created the best opportunities, even if its attacks sometimes seemed very predictable.

Mahrez, served by an uncontrolled pass and in the middle of a sublime run from Kevin de Bruyne, presented himself alone in front of goal, but was too patient and his shot was finally blocked before the Belgian took over (35th) .

De Bruyne, still him, also saw his attempt countered in the box by Harry Maguire while he was in a very good position (68th).

But that's practically all there is to remember from this game devoid of the passion of last season's confrontations which saw the Reds win three times out of four.

Pep Guardiola can still be satisfied to see his team maintain its clean sheet for a sixth straight game in all competitions, a sign of the great progress made in this area which had cost them so dearly last year.

With a rather affordable schedule up to the New Year - West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle at home, Southampton and Everton away - City can hope to take the opportunity to move a little closer to the top of the table.

Earlier in the afternoon, Newcastle had the better of West Bromwich Albion (2-1), with the fastest goal of the season, after 20 seconds, by Paraguayan Miguel Almiron, so that Aston Villa had gone for a victory not necessarily deserved, but very valuable, at Wolverhampton with a penalty in added time (1-0).

© 2020 AFP