Outside90’s Luke Sale casts an eye over the worst three individual performances from this morning’s 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Manchester United.
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In an entertaining game of football, Manchester United started the proceedings strongly and Anthony Martial made sure that Thibaut Courtois was at his best to keep the visitors at bay in the first 30 minutes. The Blues then piled on the pressure and on the one time Diego Costa got through one-one-one with David De Gea, the Spaniard slotted home to cancel out Jesse Lingard’s strike.
Chelsea, meanwhile, remains unbeaten under Hiddink, although his side has won only five of the 10 games played since the Dutchman’s return to Stamford Bridge.
The media speculation about Van Gaal’s future will not go away, with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho regularly linked to Old Trafford, but United were the brighter side early on. Chelsea regained the ball and, within seconds, Fàbregas was clipping a pass through the clutter of bodies on the edge of the United penalty area with panic having set in. The top four is going to be a tough ask for anyone outside of those already there as Leicester are now thirteen points clear of Manchester United and Tottenham are eight clear in second.
Stamford Bridge was abuzz for a game that not too long ago had a big say on the Premier League title race.
“We continued with our good, attacking football”, said Van Gaal, whose side held Chelsea 0-0 at home in December.
The hosts’ first real chance arrived on the half-hour mark when Nemanja Matic got on the end of Willian’s cross, but De Gea was able to keep out his header. Memphis Depay, whose error allowed Chelsea to equalise on Sunday, responded well to being dropped to the under-21 team for the first time.
Terry was making his first appearance at Stamford Bridge since last Sunday’s declaration from the skipper that Chelsea would not be renewing his contract when it expires at the end of the season. I had the feeling, at least on the pitch, that it was an attractive game for the fans, and if we didn’t see more goals, that was thanks to the superb performance from both goalkeepers…
It was also a good display from Lingard who popped up with a great goal.
“We played the majority of the game well but to concede late on feels like a defeat”, he told Sky Sports. “We try our best in every game and in the last three or four I thought we played really well”. Six points from 13 games may not seem a lot but they their key players are beginning to find their stride – Wayne Rooney has now had a hand in nine of the club’s last 11 goals, David de Gea was again irrepressible but more than anything the passing was more crisp.
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Andreas Pereira earned and converted a spot-kick in the victory while Timothy Fosu-Mensah also found the net in the win, which puts United one point behind leaders Sunderland in the Under-21 league.
