'Smith was dismissed in the closing minutes of a pulsating derby as The Red Devils could not find a way through a stubborn City defence, for whom Richard Dunne excelled. City endured a torrid opening five minutes when, on another day, they could have been adjudged to have conceded two penalties.
Firstly, Sylvain Distin appeared to pull the arm of compatriot Mikael Silvestre before another French clash resulted in Antoine Sibierski manhandling Louis Saha. Fortunately for City, referee Graham Poll was non-plussed. In between the penalty appeals, City were also indebted to a magnificent goal-line clearance from rookie full back Stephen Jordan.
Paul Scholes split the visiting defence asunder with a superb pass, Saha steered the ball towards goal but Jordan was on hand to scoop clear with United ready to celebrate after just four minutes. Danny Mills then had to produce a desperate clearance from Cristiano Ronaldo's chip while Gabriel Heinze tried his luck from distance as City hung on for the bulk of the first half.
But for all United's dominance, they rarely called David James into action with the England keeper only troubled by Ronaldo's swerving drive which was beaten away.
James dished up a characteristic error just before the hour mark as he fumbled the ball as Scholes sniffed an end to his barren run in front of goal and the City keeper was lucky that Alan Smith's follow-up was straight at him. City were again thankful for frantic defending on 63 minutes when the previously ineffective Steve McManaman came to his side's rescue. A Giggs corner was knocked back into the mixer, Smith produced a thumping overhead kick but McManaman instinctively stuck out a foot to somehow keep the scores level.
United created their clearest chance on 69 minutes when the ever-dangerous Saha slipped a delightful reverse pass through to Giggs to send the winger clear but the substitute's shot brushed the side-netting when he should have curled his team in front.'