Jesse Lingard put United ahead in the 61st minute at Stamford Bridge, but Costa replied in the first minute of added time to make it 1-1.
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LONDON (AP) – Chelsea striker Diego Costa struck in stoppage time against Manchester United to maintain his scoring streak under interim manager Guus Hiddink, ensuring a 1-1 stalemate in Sunday’s meeting of fallen Premier League powers.
As a first Premier League win in seven over the champions for United neared, Costa pounced in the dying minutes to preserve Chelsea’s unbeaten run since Jose Mourinho was sacked, which now stands at 11 games in all competitions.
After the game Van Gaal took note of Mata’s performance stating that “he was participating in all three goals so that is what I like to see”. But United, who still miss that swagger and arrogance that says: “we are United and we will beat you”, will be hopeful of overturning one of the clubs above them for a place in next year’s Champions League.
Asked if Zouma might miss the rest of the season, Hiddink replied: “The rest of the season is hopefully too much, but tomorrow (Monday) he will have an examination, so not too many speculations about that. I had this same problem once and it hurts”.
The draw left Louis van Gaal’s side in fifth place in the Premier League table, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, but Mata, despite being frustrated by the result, believes they are still on an upward curve following the 3-0 victory over Stoke in their previous game. “The gap is now bigger than before so that’s not good”.
United came close, though, to conceding a penalty on the stroke of half-time when Daley Blind’s arm blocked a shot by John Terry on the captain’s first home appearance since announcing he will not be getting a new Chelsea contract.
While already the scourge of Arsenal after many hotly contested battles, Sunday’s match was the infamous Diego Costa’s first against Manchester United.
Leaders Leicester City remain out in front on 53 points, five more than the north London pair and 12 clear of United. “We are showing that we can play attractive and attacking football and we have been trying hard every game”. “The team spirit is good and as a collective group we’re doing well”, Mata told the club’s website (www.manutd.com). “It was very important for us to win today”.
“It is a insane league but we have to look to ourselves, game by game”. Testing Courtois on a number of occasions, with Martial cutting in from the right and Rooney having a number of Chances to shoot, the goalkeeper was drawn into action more times in the first 10 minutes of the second half than he was in entire first 45 minutes.
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He also referenced Sir Alex Ferguson’s three years without a trophy at the start of his United reign, clearly insinuating that things would get better under him.
