Manuel Pellegrini has praised Manchester City's defensive effort after they secured a goalless draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The home side had almost twice as much possession as City, but created the same number of shots, allowing the visitors to climb back to the top of the Premier League table.

The manager told the club's website: "The first half we played better, the same level as United. In the second half we started to lose so many balls, we lost possession of the ball. In that case it's important to concentrate on defending and not to allow them to create chances, and in that sense we did it well.

"We worked well, United had possession but they didn't have too many chances. They broke through, they also hit the bar and had a chance at the near post when Joe saved but other than that it was just possession.

"It's not a bad day. It's always difficult to play here at United's stadium, it's difficult for every team. If we drew at home maybe I wouldn't be happy, but in this moment it's a good point, we concentrated well and defended well. Maybe a lot of media criticise that but we can do it also."

City have lost just one of their last six fixtures against their neighbours.