Manchester City missed the chance to move into the Premier League's top four as they played out a 0-0 derby draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

City had a golden opportunity to boost their hopes of UEFA Champions League qualification, after Nottingham Forest lost 2-1 to Aston Villa and Chelsea drew 0-0 with Brentford, 

But Pep Guardiola's team struggled to create chances against a well-drilled United backline, with Phil Foden wasting their best opening early in the second half.

The clearest opportunity for a winner fell to United, through substitute Joshua Zirkzee, but Ederson made a fine save to ensure City at least earned a point.

The draw leaves City fifth in the table, one point behind Chelsea and one ahead of Aston Villa. United, meanwhile, go back into 13th place above Tottenham Hotspur, who beat and relegated Southampton earlier in the day. 

How the match unfolded

Less than a minute had passed when Ruben Dias narrowly avoided conceding a penalty, with his panicked foul on Alejandro Garnacho adjudged to have taken place just outside the area.

Foden almost squeezed a low drive inside the near post, but the clearest chance of the first half fell to Garnacho, who was unable to make a proper connection with a stooping header when unmarked.

A flowing United move started by Bruno Fernandes ended with Patrick Dorgu shooting wildly off target, while Ilkay Gundogan dragged another hopeful attempt wide for City, who were flat in attack.

Foden could have put the visitors ahead in the 48th minute, but he poked well wide under pressure from Noussair Mazraoui after taking in Omar Marmoush's flick.

Andre Onana was worked by Marmoush's free-kick just after the hour mark, while Manuel Ugarte's 20-yard drive faded away from Ederson's left post at the other end.

United could have won it when Garnacho's cutback found Zirkzee in the centre of the penalty area, but Ederson sprang to his left to claw the strike away and preserve City's clean sheet.

No support for fantastic Fernandes

United's attacking struggles under Ruben Amorim have been well documented, with their total of 37 Premier League goals this season being the sixth worst in the top flight.

In Fernandes, United have a player capable of both starting and finishing moves, but it sometimes feels like they are relying on him to do it all.

He was at the centre of several promising moments on Sunday, particularly in the first half. A wonderful chest around the corner to Rasmus Hojlund started the move that ended with Dorgu slicing wide, while Ugarte was unable to keep his footing when Fernandes picked him out with a clever ball to the far post.

Fernandes covered every blade of grass but lacked the proper support from his team-mates – Garnacho was particularly wasteful after troubling Dias with an early run, while Hojlund did not attempt a shot before being substituted in the 71st minute.

There were at least positives in defence, as Harry Maguire replaced the injured Matthijs de Ligt and played an hour as United ended a run of eight home league matches without a clean sheet – their worst such streak since 2021.

But with a crucial UEFA Europa League quarter-final tie with Lyon on the horizon, Amorim will know more is needed from his attackers.

Diamonds aren't forever?

With Erling Haaland likely to be sidelined for most of the run-in and no other natural striker in his squad, Guardiola must get creative with City's attacking options.

They were hardly challenged in their first match since Haaland's injury – a 2-0 victory over Leicester City on Wednesday – and Guardiola opted for a different approach here, making four changes to his line-up and employing a midfield diamond.

Two days after announcing he will leave the club at the end of the season, Kevin De Bruyne often found himself as City's most advanced player, with Foden, Marmoush and Gundogan interchanging around him.

But City's patient possession play was not accompanied by any penetrative runs, with the visitors clearly wary of overcommitting and being caught out on the counter-attack. 

Guardiola threw on substitutes Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish in a bid to turn the tide, but neither player managed to get going as United protected their goal well.

After seeing several rivals for a top-four finish slip up, City will view this result as something of a missed opportunity, and another rethink might be needed before Crystal Palace visit the Etihad Stadium next Saturday.