Louis van Gaal described United’s performances against Derby County and Stoke City as “sparkling” and his side began Sunday’s game in dominant fashion at Stamford Bridge, though chances were few and far between in the first half.
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But Costa equalised in the 91st minute, rounding United goalkeeper David de Gea to score and thereby extending interim manager Guus Hiddink’s unbeaten run to 10 matches since he succeeded the sacked Jose Mourinho.
But speaking on Sunday, Hiddink said: “I’m not going to speculate”.
Costa’s goal, his seventh in nine games, gave Chelsea something to show for their efforts after an awkward afternoon that saw Kurt Zouma stretchered off with a serious-looking knee injury. A low cross from 19-year-old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson was laid back by Wayne Rooney to Lingard about 12 metres from goal.
United will be hugely disappointed not to earn all three points, but Chelsea turned the screw late in the day, and De Gea consistently needed to save his team.
The former England skipper dropped a bombshell after last weekend’s 5-1 win at second-tier Milton Keynes Dons in the FA Cup by revealing he would be leaving Chelsea after the club decided not to renew his contract.
Terry addressed the subject of his future after his 698th Chelsea appearance ended in a 1-1 draw, with Diego Costa cancelling out Jesse Lingard’s opener in stoppage time. “They have suddenly become the favourite in the Premier League and it makes our game (next week) a big game”.
After bursting onto the scene and scoring four goals in his first four games as a United player, Anthony Martial went missing for a while.
“United stretched us and have good players, but we created chances and I think we deserved a point in the end”, said Hiddink.
This is a crucial game for both teams as they need to start collecting results to get back to where they need to be in the Premier League table.
However, in the first of six minutes of injury time, Chelsea snatched a late goal when Costa rounded De Gea.
“I don’t think that is fair”.
Oscar was largely ineffective before being taken off for Eden Hazard early in the second half, but he did go close twice in quick succession before half time, first shooting over from a tight angle before just failing to reach a low cross from fellow Brazilian Willian.
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Oscar’s form has been steadily improving lately, and even though he’s been frequently deployed as a wide midfielder, he’ll still spend a significant amount of time drifting inside to more directly support the striker.
