3 reasons why Manchester United drew with Chelsea

#2 That Manchester United midfield looks solid

Stifling the threat of Eden Hazard is no mean feat. Ashley Young did an excellent job. But curbing the threat of a midfield as functional as Chelsea's takes some doing. Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba and Juan Mata did an excellent job at that.

Nemanja Matic is a different beast when he plays against his former employers. This is true of the last Premier League match between the two at Old Trafford as well. Matic was squeezing the ball out of possession and just swimming about in midfield with the ball like a dolphin.

Juan Mata is the link that keeps the midfield ticking. What he lacks for in defensive discipline, he makes up for with his technical efficiency in the final third. He played a major role in both goals and proved once again that he can be a regular feature for Mourinho's side that often struggles to link midfield and attack together.

Paul Pogba was desperate to make amends after his mistake in the first half gave away the goal, He got back to his best in the second half and was very difficult to handle as he brushed past the Chelsea midfield with considerable ease.

This looks like a trio that Manchester United should try out for an extended period of time.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Sripad