MOTD: Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea

By on December 28, 2015

Come the final whistle as Chelsea held onto a scoreless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the home fans appeared unsure how to react. Some jeered, but there were no real acts of rebellion displayed against Louis van Gaal; few of the mocking scarves that had been sold outside of the ground, welcoming Jose Mourinho, were actually waved. Indeed, many home fans had been brought back together by an all-too-fleeting promising start. Yet discontent began to mount again as United struggled to break through a solid Chelsea back-line. In the end, the Red Devils’ winless streak extended to eight matches in all competitions, their longest since the 1989/90 season, and United could not be better strangers with that winning mentality and the unity that it affords.

As it stands, Louis van Gaal’s job still sits precariously, and although his squad appear broadly behind him, the Dutchman loses supporters with each winless match. They’ve collected the fewest points total after nineteen games since 1990 and have been involved in no fewer than six goalless draws in the past two months alone. In the wake of a clear winner, uncertainty dominated the night and neither side were sure of how to unlock their potential capabilities or how to dispel their looming doubts.

There were promising signs on United’s part and they hit the woodwork twice in the first half, but the home side were unable to finish their chances. They nearly paid for this lack of lethality, though both goalkeepers made excellent saves to keep the match goalless.

Chelsea looked rather feeble at the back and lackluster up top, lacking a focal point to their attack in the absence of the suspended Diego Costa. His replacement, Eden Hazard, only looked dangerous in one-on-one situations, mostly out wide, and Chelsea’s three attacking midfielders were spread far too wide across the pitch. Neither the draw nor the nature of their performance suited Guus Hiddink’s men, who are still situated only three points above the drop zone.

Juan Mata was keen to get one over his old side and nearly bagged an opener just a few minutes into the match, rifling a fifteen-yard volley off the crossbar in the midst of a crowded penalty area. Chelsea were dreadful on the ball and their only big chance in the first half came from an early corner, when John Terry saw an acrobatic diving header at the near post tipped over the crossbar by David de Gea.

Morgan Schneiderlin sliced a twenty-five yard volley wide of the target on nine minutes and soon after Martial, by far United’s most dangerous outlet, drove into the box from the left and arrowed a low, near-post effort off of the inside of the post and scuttling across the open goal-line. Martial ran at Kurt Zouma on the break in the twenty-eighth minute and drew a professional foul from Chelsea’s centerback. United played the free kick short and the ball found its way to Wayne Rooney, who arrowed a twenty-five yard effort towards the top corner. Thibaut Courtois, however, was equal to it.

Otherwise, Rooney was fairly quiet and has gone six appearances without a goal for his club. Yet United had the purpose and penetration that was lacking from their previous seven matches and it was from the away end where the chant, “attack, attack,” began to pervade the ground.

Chelsea’s first well-worked chance came shortly on the other side of the break, when Eden Hazard slinked past a few defenders in the middle and played the ball into Pedro, whose lovely curling effort form the edge of the box was tipped away by de Gea at full stretch. Cesar Azpilicueta pounced on the rebound and looked a sure bet to score from a tight angle to the left of goal, but De Gea somehow got across in time to save Azpilicueta’s low effort with a strong trailing hand.

Courtois was also working hard to earn his corn at the other end of the pitch, making himself big to block Ander Herrera’s tap-in from point-blank range at the end of Martial’s low cross. Nemanja Matic then had a chance to win the game down at the other end, only to miscue a wayward effort high-and-wide in a one-on-one situation with de Gea. Rooney guided a far-post cross over with moments to go, but yet again the night ended with an all-too-familiar feeling of frustration for both teams.

Homepage photo credit: Clément Bucco-Lechat [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.