With the Premier League season well underway, the pressure on teams is rising as they are fighting to climb the table. With Chelsea, a team unbeaten in eight Premier League home games, taking on Manchester United, who had won five of their last six away games in all competitions, the expectation of an exciting fixture was delivered.
Banned by manager Ten Haag after storming down the tunnel versus Tottenham, a Ronaldo-less United made just one change to their line-up, with Eriksen playing in place of Fred. Four switches could be seen in the Chelsea side, however, with Thiago Silva, Chilwell, Sterling and Aubameyang all making the team following their goalless draw against Brentford.
The match took off to a cagey start- edged by United- with just one shot on target (from the visitors) within the first 20 minutes. Sensing a loss of tactical initiative, Chelsea manager Graham Potter switched things up early by substituting Kovacic on for Cucurella in the 36th minute to match United’s 4-1-4-1 formation. The match certainly started to liven up, with United’s Antony missing a great chance by shooting the ball wide to the right when well placed. The half-time whistle blew, with the score at 0-0 and Chelsea coming into better form towards the end of the period.
After just 6 minutes into the second half, United substitute Sancho for Fred, with him going into the centre of midfield, resulting in Fernandes playing on the left. Varane of United sustained a nasty injury after trying to tackle Aubameyang and was seen limping off the pitch in the 59th minute, replaced by Lindelof. The first shot on target in the second half came from Fernandes of United, with Chelsea keeper Kepa stretching low to push it away. Chelsea and Manchester United both made double substitutions in the 79th and 80th minutes respectively, in order to steal a late winner.
There was plenty of late drama in the 84th minute, though, when Chelsea was awarded a penalty after substitute Broja was wrestled unceremoniously to the ground by McTominay at a corner. Jorginho managed to keep his cool and slid the ball into the back of the net, sending the home-crowd wild, and being mobbed in celebration by his Chelsea teammates. With minutes to go, Chelsea thought they had a win in the bag, with this hope only to be extinguished by a last-minute equaliser from United. Casemiro met Shaw’s cross with a powerful header, with Chelsea keeper Kepa scrambling to keep it out of the net. The ball only narrowly crossed the line, as Kepa was able to get a fingertip touch on it, making it difficult for most of the crowd to see if it had gone in; it was clear though, as the nearby away end erupted into cheer, that United had scored.
The match ended 1-1, meaning it was the fifth successive draw between Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea maintained their fourth position in the table with 21 points, with United in fifth just 1 point behind after 11 games from both sides.
I spoke to home-fan Danny Fewkes for some post-match thoughts. He said, ‘Having come agonisingly close to securing an important win and 3 points, my initial reaction was one of great disappointment. On balance though, a draw was probably a fair result across the full game and currently missing some of our key players, there are positives to take from the stronger second half performance. We have a massive Champions League game in Salzburg coming up on Tuesday, so fingers crossed we can continue to build on manager Potter’s encouraging start at the Bridge.’
