By Phil McNulty
Chief football writer at Eastlands
Manchester City and Manchester United fought out a dour derby that failed to live up to expectations at Eastlands.
United were the more composed side as they extended their unbeaten Premier League start to 12 games - but the failure to capitalise on a greater share of possession meant Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the table to four points, courtesy of their win against Fulham.
Roberto Mancini's Manchester City lacked craft and guile, failing to seriously trouble United's defence, although the tireless Carlos Tevez brought a fine first-half save from Edwin van der Sar with a 20-yard free-kick.
United's best chances came when Patrice Evra burst into the area only to shoot straight at Joe Hart, while Dimitar Berbatov also tested the City keeper with an overhead kick after the break.
Sir Alex Ferguson, without Ryan Giggs in a Manchester derby for the first time in 19 years, will be satisfied with United's overall display, but may regard it as a opportunity lost given his side's superiority on the ball.
City, for their part, could never exert any authority, despite the hard running of Tevez, although the late - arguably too late - introduction of Adam Johnson almost created a winner for Pablo Zabaleta, who wasted a presentable opening.
A limp first 45 minutes betrayed the lively exchanges in the build-up, with barely a chance worthy of the name as caution ruled Eastlands.
The visitors were more comfortable in possession, and one such passage of play led to an opening for Evra inside the area, but his finish was too close to Hart.
Tevez, such a central figure in Manchester derbies these days, had been contained comfortably by Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, but almost came out of his shell to break the deadlock after 35 minutes.
He curled a 20-yard free-kick towards the top corner, but Van der Sar was able to move his left and claw his effort away in relative comfort.
Vidic content with Manchester derby point
United continued to look the more ordered side after the break, and when Berbatov was on target with a bicycle kick, Hart was perfectly positioned to make the save.
As in the opening period, both teams seemed incapable of carving out clear chances and the respective managers made changes in an attempt to break the deadlock, with Johnson replacing James Milner for City and United's emerging young striker Javier Hernandez coming on for Berbatov.
City finally got a clear sight of Van der Sar's goal with four minutes remaining when Johnson's pass fell kindly for Zabaleta, but his effort was too high to trouble Van der Sar - and it would have been harsh on United had they snatched a winner.
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