MOTD: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United

By on February 7, 2016

Manchester United and Chelsea drew level in a classic Premier League potboiler at Stamford Bridge, although a late equalizer for the home side spoilt the occasion for United in a match that was supposed to be their chance to announce a rejuvenated push for a Champions League spot.  Jesse Lingard had given United a second half lead via a wonderful volley, but Diego Costa bagged an equalizer in the first of six minutes of stoppage time to tie the match at one all.

The Blues’ hopes of a fourth-place finish in the Premier League might be long forsaken, yet they still took pleasure in bringing United’s momentum skidding to a halt in their favored role of pantomime villains.  One might imagine Jose Mourinho silently laughing to himself as his old side pegged back his potential future employers.  United’s pain was made all the worse due to the fact that, deep down, Van Gaal will know that they only had their own lack of lethality and composure at the back to blame.  They bossed the flow of the game in a promising first-half, but that swagger left them when in front of goal.

“You need to give the right pass at the right moment and we did not do that [before Chelsea scored]. Chelsea are a very good team and you play like we played and don’t reward yourself, it is frustrating,” said Van Gaal.

He was yet again scathing in his post-match press conference, snapping at a reporter who questioned his long-term future at the club amid strong reports that say Jose Mourinho is being courted by the Red Devils.  “So you have spoken to [the executive vice-chairman] Ed Woodward or the Glazers?” he retorted, per The Guardian. “Are you getting the sack tomorrow? What is your name, so I can announce the name also? Look at your wife, or maybe you have children, or a nephew or something like that [and see the affect on them].”

On the other side of the touchline, Guus Hiddink extended his run of eleven unbeaten matches since taking over at Stamford Bridge, although four of their last five league matches have ended in draws.  Although United controlled possession, Chelsea remained compact at the back and far more lethal than their visitors on the break.

United prodded Chelsea’s back-line early on with a series of corners, but John Terry valiantly held the Blues defense together after recently announcing this would be his last season at the Bridge.  On nineteen minutes, Anthony Martial cut in from the left on his right foot and unleashed a wicked effort towards the top corner of the net and Thibaut Courtois flew across his goal to tip the ball wide.  While Nemanja Matic’s near-post cross nearly wriggled its way into the back of the net in the thirty-ninth minute, neither side saw a clear sight of goal in the first half.

Things began to open up on the other side of the break as Martial arrowed a low effort wide of Courtois’ near post, although the stimulus for United’s opener game from Kurt Zouma’s horrific injury from a nasty fall in the fifty-sixth minute.  He was stretchered off and replaced by Gary Cahill, but United took advantage of the brief confusing and Lingard struck a beautiful volley into the top right corner of the net on the turn soon afterward.

As the clock ran down, United began to show signs of nervousness and Branislav Ivanovic forced De Gea into a low save smart down low to his right before Costa headed over in the eighty-ninth minute.  United finally slipped up in stoppage time, with Daly Blind losing his footing and allowing Costa the time to round the oncoming De Gea and tuck a cool finish into the back of the open net.  There’s still thirteen game weeks to go, yet United are now as close to ninth place as they are to fourth and the gap isn’t getting smaller at their current pace.

Homepage photo credit: joshjdss (Chelsea Vs Maccabi Tel-Aviv) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], 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.