McClaren's men defend their solid reputation

Manchester City 0 Middlesbrough

Some goalless draws are filled with incidents and drama but just lack that all-important finishing touch. This was no such occasion. Yesterday's result was right and fair. That is, of course, unless you were one of the unlucky ones who had to pay to watch this half-hearted display.

Honest as ever, Kevin Keegan admitted this was "not one for the purists". "I won't be looking back at the video," he joked. Nor will the Maine Road faithful, who have only three more games by which to remember their 80-year stay at the old ground. "There's a danger some of our players are already on holiday mode," Keegan warned. The one positive was Joe Barton's first home appearance for the senior team. "Joey's hungry," Keegan said of the 20-year-old, "and in this team at the moment that really stands out."

With Premiership safety guaranteed, Keegan will be looking for improvement between now and the end of the season. His front two of Robbie Fowler and Nicolas Anelka, in particular, looked disinterested, and will have to do better if City are to punctuate next year's move to the Commonwealth Games City of Manchester stadium with travels around Europe. On yesterday's evidence, there is still much work to do.

Their only attack of the first half was fashioned in Israel and France but wasted by a young English prospect. Eyal Berkovic and Anelka combined to set up Shaun Wright-Phillips, who shot wide.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have developed into little more than a solid unit, and they were again content to defend first and play second. With a place in the Uefa Cup still a possibility, one expected the usual tough tackling to be replaced with a more positive approach. It was not to be, and Steve McClaren, the Boro manager, said only that he never felt his "team were going to lose". He might have added that they were never going to force the win, either.

With six minutes gone, Jonathan Greening delivered a good cross at the near post, but Joseph-Desiré Job's header was weak and off target. The next half-chance did not present itself for another 30 minutes, as Malcolm Christie charged down a loose back-pass and saw Peter Schmeichel's clearance ricochet off his shins to safety.

It came as no surprise that Ali Benarbia was brought on in place of the ineffectual Berkovic for the second half. The little Algerian's magic was desperately needed but so, too, was a bit of good old-fashioned British football. No doubt sensing this, Keegan soon replaced his high-profile striking duo of Fowler and Anelka for a more gritty pairing of Jon Macken and Shaun Goater. Significantly, the crowd's applause was not for the departing players, but the substitutes.

No wonder; their presence was immediately felt. Macken combined with Goater to tee up the onrushing Barton for a strike from the edge of the area. The young midfielder's shot was on target but too close to Mark Schwarzer.

The new forwards brought more urgency to the men in sky blue, but still too little penetration in the final third. Thankfully for City, Middlesbrough showed no interest in winning the game themselves. Such was the dearth of their attacking ideas that McClaren's men sometimes made catenaccio football look exciting. "This was one to forget," Keegan rightly said.

Manchester City 0 Middlesbrough 0

Attendance: 34,793