Callum Whelan earned a draw for Manchester United in Wednesday's Under-18 mini-derby after Lukas Nmecha had fired neighbours Manchester City into a first-half lead.
The stalemate at United's Carrington training complex means the table-topping Blues will have to wait a little longer before they can secure the northern section title in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League.
They sit three points clear of Everton and have a goal difference of +9, a far cry from bottom-of-the-table United.
Nicky Butt, Manchester United's new head of academy, watches their Under-18 team draw 1-1 with rivals Manchester City on Wednesday afternoon (file picture)
Nicky Butt, who was this week appointed as United's new head of academy, watched on as City made the brighter start.
After 15 minutes, top scorer Nmecha created room to shoot on the edge of the penalty area but saw his effort cannon back off the crossbar.
The visitors continued to swarm forward and United goalkeeper Oliver Byrne was forced into a full-stretch diving save from City's tricky Spanish midfielder Brahim Diaz, before also thwarting Aaron Nemane's strike shortly afterwards.
City found their inevitable breakthrough three minutes before the break as Nmecha showed excellent close control to beat the United defence before sending a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.
Lukas Nmecha opened the scoring as Manchester City dominated the first-half of the match (file picture)
Callum Whelan earned a draw for United in the second-half having been second best (file picture)
It was similarly one-way traffic after the break and Byrne was again called into action, blocking with his legs from Rodney Kongolo's effort.
And they came even closer a few minutes later when Nmecha's backheel from a Diaz cut-back came back off the upright.
United had threatened rarely but made City pay for their misses on 64 minutes when Whelan poked the ball home after a goalmouth scramble.
There was still time for Byrne to make one more save after Nemane had squared to the unmarked Nmecha, but City couldn't force a winner.
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