Jose Mourinho had another moan about the referees, but it could not mask another insipid performance from Manchester United, while Pep Guardiola's Manchester City turned on the style against West Ham United in the English Premier League.
Liverpool hold Chelsea as Arsenal crash
Needing a win to take advantage of Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham's slips on Tuesday, Manchester United decided to leave their scoring boots at home, with Hull City defending diligently to leave Old Trafford with a point after a goalless draw.
At the end of it all, Mourinho complained about the perceived different treatment he gets from referees, after being told to sit down for his complaining about decisions that were made by Mike Jones during the stalemate.
In the end, though, Manchester United picked up their ninth draw of the season, and lie four points off fourth-placed Liverpool and Manchester City, who did not have any such issues on Wednesday.
If it were up to Guardiola, City would play West Ham every single time. Having beaten Slaven Bilic's side 3-1 in the reverse fixture of the Premier League and 5-0 in an FA Cup third round tie, City followed up those results with a comprehensive 4-0 win.
Gabriel Jesus, the January signing, was the player that caught the eye, with the Brazil international getting off the mark in English football as well with City's third goal.
Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring in the 17th, with David Silva doubling the lead four minutes later.
After Jesus struck his first goal for the club on 39 minutes, the match was as good as done, with Yaya Toure adding the gloss with a 67th minute penalty.
"I'm used to scoring many goals but I also like to assist and to help the team in other ways and I'm happy for it," Gabriel Jesus said.
"If I'm in the starting lineup it's great and if not I'm going to try to help the team any way I can.
"I came here to help, the adaptation process is going great, my teammates are really helping me very much, the club is really helping me so I can stay focused on football which I really like and it's great."
In the third match of the day, Stoke City and Everton played out a 1-1 draw. Peter Crouch made it 1-0 to Stoke, with it netting his 100th Premier League goal. Everton, though, salvaged a point through a Ryan Shawcross own goal.
"There's some fantastic players in that 100 club, so to be among them is great for me personally," said the 36-year-old Crouch. "The minute it went in, it's a great feeling."
