The moment that showed Manchester United are finally playing in Ruben Amorim's image

At 8.15pm on Sunday, Darren Fletcher finally emerged from the Stretford End tunnel. He bade farewell to a family and checked that their children had "enjoyed their day". The kids chirruped enthusiastically.

Manchester United had not lost, at least. They were the better side in a drab derby, the most inconsequential in the fixture's esteemed history since Stuart Pearce was the Manchester City manager nearly 20 years ago.

Fletcher started in that stalemate in September 2005. Joey Barton nicked an equaliser. City fans chanted, "Tracksuit from Matalan" at a poorly-attired Sir Alex Ferguson. Even unmemorable matches are memorable.

Yesterday, Joshua Zirkzee was ball-juggling before he came on. That was more entertaining than any of the ball-work on the pitch. The City analyst Carles Planchart, sat to our right in the press box, was so appalled by one error he rose to his feet. Little of the play brought fans to their feet.

The obligatory rendition of 'Stand up if you hate Glazers' was half-hearted. The vast majority of supporters around us stayed in their seats.

Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have done a number on United so often they are among the finest opponents ever to grace Old Trafford. It was striking to see them labour against the worst United team in half a century.

They were so anaemic Casemiro was able to keep up. The midfielder's purported revival has come during a period where United have played a sedate Spanish side twice and a declining City team that had five 30-somethings in its starting XI.

Even the uplifting weather did not help. Pep Guardiola lingered in the sunshine pre-match, shooting the breeze with Barry South, City's head of security. He did so again at full-time, catching up with Luke Shaw, a