‘Mourinho wasn’t prepared to gamble’ – Three things learnt from Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United

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Jose Mourinho wasn’t prepared to gamble

This Manchester Derby was massive for a huge number of reasons, but it seemed that Jose Mourinho was not prepared to live up to the hype of one of the biggest fixtures of the Premier League calendar. Much like his visit to Anfield earlier this season, and with a top four finish at stake, Mourinho went on the defensive.

Whilst his starting eleven was fairly open and attacking, with a front three of Anthony Martial and Henrikh Mkhitaryan either side of Marcus Rashford, the second half saw a backs against the wall kind of display with United mustering just three shots across the 90 minutes compared to City’s 19.

Marouane Fellaini’s sending off didn’t help matters in the dying moments, but Mourinho made it very clear that a point would do for the Red Devils. They now control their own destiny and extended their unbeaten run to 24 games in the Premier League, but they will have to cut out the draws if they are to beat Liverpool and City into the top four.