Manchester United 0 -0 Manchester City: Four things we learnt from the game

The 170th Manchester derby has come and gone. It will be remembered as one of the few derbies with no goal. Hosted at Old Trafford. It was a match with no clear goal scoring opportunity for either sides, a match both teams tend to be contended with a point.

Here are four talking points from the game.

1.  A match United could have won: City coming into this game without two of their most influential attacking players in Sergio Aguero and David Silva, gave United a slight edge before the game. And as expected, with Van Gaal's philosophy of keeping possession and the game being at Old Trafford, Manchester United dominated and control the game for a greater portion of the game. Despite all the possession, and intelligence on the ball, United offered next to nothing in creating goal scoring chances. United were unable to turn their possession I to attack, and lacked the final bite and cohesion in final third. The game was there for United to win, city offered very little attacking wise and United were comfortable for most of game, but on the the evening, United lacked the killer instinct.

2. Martial a striker not a winger: The Frenchman was signed due to United's lack of goals at the start of the season. He came into the team and gave United a focal point in attack. Something United had been lacking, coupled  with his composure, strength and intelligence, we thought United's goal scoring problems were almost over. And indeed they were. But since dropping Memphis Depay, precisely since the game against Everton, Van Gaal seem to have developed other plans for Martial - playing him on the wing. Which means returning Wayne Rooney to the centre striking position where he had been struggling before Martial's arrival. Guess what, Rooney has continued   struggling in that position. While Martial's pace, tricks, ability to beat few players and strength makes him a good choice as a winger, the best choice is to play him from the centre. On the wings Martial seems underutilized. Here's Anthony Martial's game by numbers against City
81% pass accuracy
13 take ons
3 crosses
2 blocks
1 chance created
(via @Squawka)
If he had put in this from a central role, United could have gotten a goal.

3. Massive improvement in defense: Of the few positives out of the derby is the true strength, depth and character in the United's defence. At the start of the season, the United's typical back four was Darmain, Smalling, Blind and Shaw. Ten games into the season against City, United produced arguably its best defensive showing with only one of the aforementioned four starting the game, with only Shaw out due to injury. That shows the flexibility of the defense. Rojo and injured Antonio Valencia were brilliant on the evening, keeping Sterling and De Bruyne silent for most of the game.

4. Rooney needs to be dropped or substituted:  Wayne Rooney’s game by numbers vs. Man City:

55% pass accuracy
0 shots on target
0 chances created
0 take ons

That sums up the captian's performance. Not only for this game, but for most part of this season.  Against City, he had over 20 touches in the first half with non in the opposition box. Not too good stats from a lone striker. It's then amazing how he starts and plays the entire 90 minutes on the pich, week in week out. We seen a lot of cases where captains are benched or substituted for their drop in form.