United were the better side - Smalling

Chris Smalling believes Manchester United edged out
Manchester City in their 0-0 derby draw on Sunday.

Defender Chris Smalling believes Manchester United were the
better side in Sunday's 0-0 stalemate against rivals Manchester
City.
The England international played the full 90 minutes as the
derby finished scoreless for the first time since November 2010.

Smalling admitted the game could have been more exciting, but
believes United had the better of the chances.

"I think it’s one where it could have been a little bit more
[exciting]. Both teams were very compact and well organised,
and there weren’t too many chances,” he told MUTV.

"I think we probably edged it overall with the chances we had in
the second half. Towards the end, you could tell that, for the last
20-30 minutes, they were hanging on and bringing on defenders,
so it was on us to really push forward and we did.

"On another day, the chances we had might have gone in."

The draw at Old Trafford was the first time since that game in
2010 that United have kept a clean sheet against City.

"I think if we came into today's fixture and, if someone told us
we would get a clean sheet, we would have taken your hand
off," the 25-year-old Smalling said.

"They’re a very fast, attacking team and I think they were set up
for the counter-attack, especially with Raheem [Sterling] and
[Kevin] De Bruyne who are very quick, so we had to be on our
toes."

With a point, City moved back into first in the Premier
League table, equal on points with Arsenal, while United remain
just two points off top spot in fourth.