Soccer/ English FA Premiership Manchester United 1 Manchester City 1: Were it not for the minute's silence for former United captain Noel Cantwell descending into a testosterone-fuelled shouting match, this would have been a remarkably serene Manchester derby.

Bone-jarring tackles? Clattered limbs? Not here. Stuart Pearce tried to get things going by blowing a few kisses to the home supporters, but Alex Ferguson must feel his players showed about as much bite as a litter of kittens.

Ask Ferguson to name United's traditional rivals and he will reply, in order, Liverpool, Arsenal and Leeds. "Manchester City are not a problem for me," he says, and there was a strange passiveness about United, as if his players agreed.

At City, where they have even vetoed red company cars, it is constantly drummed into them that this rivalry counts. None of Pearce's players has local origins, but they operate to a different script from that employed at Old Trafford. To them this was a match of huge significance. It showed.

If Ferguson is looking for an explanation behind United's dishevelled performance, he might begin with the fact there was only one Mancunian (Paul Scholes) in a side that barely seemed to comprehend the importance of this fixture in the pubs, playgrounds and workplaces across the city.

Another contributory factor might be the presence of two players who speak barely a word of English. Then there was the absence of Roy Keane, a habitual excuse when things go wrong and one that now has United's fans rolling their eyes. How many more times must they witness the tradition of a vapid display when their captain has been rested?

When Keane arrived at Old Trafford 12 years ago he was taken aback by the presence of so many "imposing characters, seasoned professionals, strong men". Ferguson has tried to retain that win-at-all-costs mentality by recruiting the likes of Alan Smith, Gabriel Heinze and Wayne Rooney, but, while these are sturdy competitors, they are not blessed with the talent of motivating others around them.

United used to be famed for their resilience, their durability and, above all, their late goals, but not any more. On Saturday all they mustered throughout three minutes of stoppage time was a corner that Kieran Richardson kicked straight out for a goal-kick.

Rooney apart, the greatest endeavours generally came from those in blue. Old Trafford witnessed the unexpected sight, for example, of Danny Mills dominating Heinze on City's right flank, particularly in the first 45 minutes when he operated as an auxiliary winger. Mills has become a much maligned figure at City, whereas Heinze had collected the Matt Busby player-of-the-year award before kick-off. But this was a triumph for the City full-back's steadfastness.

Others were equally robust, most notably Ben Thatcher, Richard Dunne and Claudio Reyna, the game's outstanding midfielder.

Ferguson offered a wonderfully biased version of events, that City had "parked themselves on the edge of their own penalty area and hoped for scraps".

A more accurate assessment was that City had taken the sting out of their opponents and finished as the more likely winners.

Although United did, indeed, have a territorial advantage, they were overly reliant on Rooney conjuring up something. There was a conspicuous lack of width and imagination without Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ruud van Nistelrooy was generally isolated even though it was his neat improvisation that led to him opening the scoring, diverting Paul Scholes's shot towards goal and then tucking in the rebound after a splendid reflex save from David James.

Pearce being Pearce, he did not seem entirely satisfied with only a draw, revealing that he had offered Ferguson "a grim 'well done' " at the final whistle.

Uppermost in his list of grievances, however, was the mindless yet all too predictable abuse that led to the minute's silence for Cantwell being brought to an abrupt end after 35 seconds. It was to his immense credit that he did not pretend to be unaware of where the problem had originated.

"I'll apologise on behalf of my club because it's not something anyone wanted to hear," he said. "Manchester City is a club of the community, a family club, and I don't condone it."

Point made, he was off to scrutinise the table. They are unbeaten since March and defiant in third place. Maybe it is time United took them a bit more seriously.

* Guardian Service