Wayne Rooney's special night ended falling flat, as Manchester United played out a drab goalless draw with his former club Everton.
Neither side looked to make a significant impact in the first period, with the sides been reduced to half-chances. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ross Barkley, Luke Shaw and Romelu Lukaku all went close but couldn't put their side's ahead.
Kevin Mirallas opened the second period with a good opportunity, but still there was no breakthrough .Marouanne Fellaini had two half-chances which is the only thing that any side can take from the second half, and fans will hope for a better performance at Wembley on Sunday against the champions Leicester City.
Taking a while to get going
The stage was set at Old Trafford, for what was a special night for the United and England skipper, but celebrations aside, Jose Mourinho was looking for a win ahead of the Community Shield clash.
However either side failed to really get going, with the first opportunity of any recognition, not arriving until the 25th minute.
Many inside the Theater of Dreams were excited to get a glimpse of Ibrahimovic, and he got his chance when Rooney put him through on goal, but his effort was beaten away by Maarten Stekelenburg.
Ronald Koeman's side then showed their attacking prowess, Chelsea target Lukaku's effort was deflected straight to the feet of Ross Barkley, but David de Gea did well to beat it away.
Perking up at the end
United picked up their game towards the end of the first 45 minutes, and had some decent opportunities to put the Red Devils in the lead.
Everyone inside Old Trafford will have been happy to see the return of Luke Shaw, and almost marked his return with a goal. The full-back received the ball on the edge of the area, but his shot was taken just wide of the post by Manchester City John Stones.
Rooney produced an excellent cross two minutes from the break, which fell to Ibrahimovic, the Swede took a touch but his shot was smothered by Stekelenburg.
Lukaku had one of the better chances of the half right at the death, he got his head to Seamus Coleman's cross but the pressure from Eric Bailly saw the Belgian's header go wide.
Different players, same tempo
Mourinho made a number of significant changes at the break, but the tempo didn't really change as the game restarted.
One of the Everton substitute's Mirallas, had the best chance in the opening minutes of the half. Coleman played another dangerous ball into the box, which was headed down to the Belgian but he could hit a wayward effort into the side-netting.
Tempers did flare between Ashley Young and Coleman, which was arguably the highlight of the second period, as Fellaini could only muster two half-chances for the time that he was on the pitch.
A corner was whipped into the head of the Belgian, and his effort looked goal bound, but it was claimed in the air by Joel. Memphis Depay played one final ball into the area in extra-time, looking for Fellaini, but it was easy for Joel.
Manchester United will take on Leicester City in the Community Shield at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 7 with kick-off at 4pm BST.