Paul Pogba 6, Marcus Rashford 5; Kevin De Bruyne 7: Manchester United v Manchester City player ratings

Manchester derby ends in stalemate but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer delighted with his team's response

MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea, 6 - Saved from Mahrez in first half and had little to do in the second as his defence kept City at a distance. Easy late stop from compatriot Rodri. Clean sheet. Needed it. EPA

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 7 - Work cut out more than other United defenders and positioning not best. Improved in second half and controlled in checking Sterling. PA

Harry Maguire, 7 - Won three derbies since he joined United. Late yellow for a foul on Gabriel Jesus as he tired, but concentrated well, blocked and cajoled those around him effectively. EPA

Victor Lindelof, 7 - Won header off corner and solid alongside Maguire. More touches than any of his teammates – rare for a central defender. Game was like a 92 minute training session where United defended well throughout and contained City. EPA

Luke Shaw, 7 - Strong in tackles, presence at corners where United were a threat. Back to his high pre-injury level quickly after his return. Good game. AP

Fred, 6 - Took an early knock and had to be on his game against City’s best player De Bruyne, but performed and made a couple of nice turns. Reuters

Scott McTominay, 7 - Combative throughout. Danger at far post early on. Disciplined, involved. Not as dramatic as his last derby when he scored – but then the game wasn’t. EPA

Paul Pogba, 6 - Started left on diamond. Won headers, some neat play but also lost possession. Moved central later on. Far fewer touches than the other midfielders. EPA

Bruno Fernandes, 6 - Found it difficult to get in game, lost possession a couple of times as tried to create. Late turn and shot on goal, but easy save for Ederson. Then shot wide as he went for glory. EPA

Mason Greenwood, 5 - Bits of action and did little wrong, but little service as his team had less of the ball. Getty

Marcus Rashford, 5 - Offside before winning a penalty. Timing with Greenwood could be better. Lashed a Pogba pass wide. More movement and intelligence from Rashford and Greenwood and United could have taken game. EPA

SUB: Anthony Martial, 5 - On for Greenwood 74 and went to central striker. Clever ball forward towards Rashford but led to nothing. Fouled by Fernandinho as he broke away. Reuters

MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson, 5 – His distribution was unusually wayward, with many passes out from the back going straight to United players. Was scarcely called upon to make a save. AFP

Kyle Walker, 6 – Very nearly conceded a penalty for a foul on Marcus Rashford. Fortunately for the England defender, VAR ruled it out for an offside infringement. PA

John Stones, 7 – Looked relatively comfortable in the heart of the City defence. Made a handful of well-timed blocks.
 AP

Ruben Dias, 6 – Was caught out positionally several times, with United’s fast counter attacks putting the Portuguese star under some pressure. That aside, his distribution remained solid throughout. 
PA

Joao Cancelo, 6 – Provided decent width going forward, but his final ball often lacked conviction. City needed more from its Wing backs tonight. 

Getty

Rodri, 5 – Gave away possession too easily, often leading to silly fouls as he attempted to atone for his errors. The 24-year-old’s underwhelming display pretty much summed up City’s evening.
 AFP

Fernandinho, 6 – Passed the ball nicely in the middle of the park, while also managing to prevent a number of promising United counters. PA

Kevin De Bruyne, 7 – The best player on the pitch in the first half – by some distance. His quality was obvious from the outset, and on another occasion, he might have had a few assists to his name.
 Reuters

Riyad Mahrez, 7 – Started the match very brightly. While much of his good work went to waste, he did present excellent opportunities to teammates with a number of fine through balls and indirect free kicks. 
EPA

Raheem Sterling, 6 – Posed a real threat in the first half, with dangerous movement and direct running. However, as was the case with many of his teammates, the end product wasn’t quite there.
 Reuters

Gabriel Jesus, 6 – Cut an isolated figure at times. In the absence of genuine creativity or link-up play, the Brazilian forward had to feed off scraps.
 Getty

SUB: Ferran Torres, 6 – Struggled to get into the game, with the away side’s attack looking somewhat blunted after his introduction. AFP

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was pleased with Manchester United's response to crashing out of the Champions League as his players fought for a point against Manchester City in a forgettable derby stalemate.

After dreadful defending played a key role in a costly defeat at RB Leipzig that saw them slip into the Europa League, United's players showed the kind of focus and organisation that had been lacking in Germany.

They looked solid but lacked a prolonged attacking threat in a drab 0-0 draw against City at an empty Old Trafford, where the video assistant referee overturned a second-half penalty as Marcus Rashford had strayed offside before being fouled by Kyle Walker.

Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne had chances for City but they too lacked a cutting edge in a match that Solskjaer took positives from.

"Well, of course it was a big blow during the week so the way they've recovered, the way they've worked, how ready they were for the game, I was very, very pleased with it," the United boss said. "Exceptional attitude.

"Of course we had some moments where we had to defend, especially second half, there were times they really pegged us back.

"But we stuck at it, defended really well, so attitude-wise, mental recovery they've done brilliant.

"Of course I'm happy with the clean sheet, but in games like this when you have some margins to score the goal, you win. If you have it against you, you lose, so a fair result for me was the draw."