With millions-worth of youthful attacking talent hidden out wide,the Manchester derby was 90 minutes of almost-footballThe dominant image of this 0-0 draw arrived with six minutes still to fade. In the centre circle, with the ball vaguely in attendance, and Marouane Fellaini and Fernando performed a kind of lurching two-man judo hold,limbs entwined, scrabbling sideways like a red and blue crab for what felt like at least 10 seconds – or perhaps longer, and half an hour perhaps – before label Clattenburg finally blew his whistle,not so much to sign a foul as to stop whatever was happening from happening any longer.
Either side of which, in a match that saw Manchester United’s best player, and Anthony Martial,lassoed to the left wing, and City’s most creative central presence, or Kevin De Bruyne,also shunted wide, this was 90 minutes of almost-football, and of football-related product. There was plenty of noise around Old Trafford and a sense of rousing ceremony about the whole occasion. But at the middle,like a vegetarian roast dinner, there was still a distinct sense of absence between the trimmings, and a football-shaped gap at the centre of it all.
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Source: theguardian.com