Ole Gunnar Solskjaer embraced Pep Guardiola, who wheeled away straight into the arms of Manchester United coach Michael Carrick. More smiles. More bonhomie.
On the pitch, Harry Maguire was in conversation with John Stones, Fred had his arm around Ederson and Paul Pogba walked off with Kevin De Bruyne.
Full time in an instantly forgettable 183rd Manchester derby, and everyone seemed happy with a draw. All except Roy Keane, of course.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and City’s Pep Guardiola embraced each other at the final whistle
A total of two yellow cards told its own story and so did the scoreline at Old Trafford
Your mind drifted back to the passionate, pulsating derbies of yesteryear. Keane taking out Alf-Inge Haaland at the knee, Sir Alex Ferguson having to be separated from Roberto Mancini, and Jose Mourinho wearing a carton of milk after a dressing-room free-for-all.
A total of two yellow cards here told its own story. So did the scoreline, and the sight of the two Manchester clubs clogging up mid-table in the Premier League. Middling. Mediocre. Meh.
At least City are showing a degree of consistency, even though there isn’t much excitement to go with it. After completing a cakewalk of a Champions League group stage in midweek, this was a sixth successive clean sheet in all competitions. United, on the other hand, are still trying to find their way as this strangest of years draws to a close.
Their league form has been up and down, to say the least. They were going for a fifth straight win, yet also trying to avoid losing four of their opening six home games for only the second time.
The Premier League encounter appeared to be as low on animosity as it was on entertainment
In Europe, the campaign started brightly but defeat in Leipzig last week had United clearing their Thursday nights for the season. This was a game they really could not afford to lose.
City had the best of the chances, David de Gea keeping out Riyad Mahrez’s tame effort with his right foot and Gabriel Jesus ballooning a first-time shot over the bar.
United’s opportunity came and went just after half-time, when referee Chris Kavanagh awarded a penalty for Kyle Walker’s challenge on Marcus Rashford but VAR ruled the United man offside.
And that was pretty much that. Mourinho and Louis van Gaal oversaw boring, goalless draws in the derby, but this one felt particularly bad because it was devoid of fans and atmosphere.
Solskjaer claimed it was United’s best performance against City during his time in charge, although that said more about the opposition than anything else. Neither side came away with any credit.
Roy eane was left ‘scratching his head’ by the show of respect between the city rivals
Yet if they win their games against the bottom two clubs this week — City at home to West Brom tomorrow and United at Sheffield United on Thursday —both will be right in the title race after a third of the season.
‘I think over Christmas, with the number of games in a short space of time, there will be changes in positions,’ said Solskjaer.
‘It’s a big moment, around Christmas and New Year. Maybe then we will have a clearer view of how it will look for us.’
A clairvoyant wouldn’t be able to tell how it will look for United at the moment. They are scintillating one moment, stodgy the next.
Only City have scored fewer goals than them among the teams in the top half, but Solskjaer defended his side’s record of having scored just once from open play at home in the league.
‘If you compare our goal tally from last season to now, we are way ahead with the number of games we’ve played and goals we’ve scored. Home or away, it doesn’t really matter,’ he said.
At least City are showing consistency, even though there isn’t much excitement to go with it
‘Bigger teams set the stall out to defend against us and are happy with a draw. That’s a challenge for us but whoever scores seven against Leipzig in two games, and scores against PSG, I think have created a lot of chances.’
As if a sterile derby in front of empty stands wasn’t strange enough, the day ended with Pogba pledging his commitment to United. ‘Bla bla is not important,’ wrote the Frenchman on social media, conveniently forgetting that the most damaging ‘bla bla’ has come from his own agent.
Pogba did not mention Mino Raiola or his future. He seemed more concerned about biting back at his critics.
The timing was odd, even more so because he played well off the bench in Leipzig and put in a real shift here. That hasn’t always been the case.
You never know quite what you’re going to get with Pogba — and the same can certainly be said of United right now.