Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea: 3 things we learned

Manchester United drew 1-1 with Chelsea in a vital Premier League match on Sunday. Chelsea took a big step towards a top 4 finish with the one point obtained from the match, and are now at the 4th position with 68 points from 36 matches. On the other hand, United are at 6th with 65 points from 36 matches.

United were slightly the better team in the match, and also scored the opening goal in the 11th minute through Juan Mata. However, Marcos Alonso equalized for Chelsea in the 43rd minute, as the second half ended goalless. United would now have to hope that Chelsea lose at least one of their remaining two matches so that they can finish inside the top 4.

We would now take a look at the 3 things we learned from the match:

#1 United's star comeback players made their presence felt

Some United players like Ander Herrera, Eric Bailly, Luke Shaw and Juan Mata had not featured in most of United’s matches in the recent past, and made a comeback to the starting eleven. United started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Herrera and Matic playing as the double pivot, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Mata as the attacking midfielders, and Marcus Rashford as the lone forward.

However, the formation often changed to a 4-3-3 with Mata, Rashford and Lukaku playing as the three forwards. Mata played as the false nine, and managed to score his 45th goal for United. Lukaku played a chipped through ball to an advancing Shaw inside the Chelsea penalty box, and the latter played it to Mata, who made no mistake in scoring from inside the box.

Shaw again had a good game and so did Lukaku, who worked tirelessly inside the final third. Herrera also had a lively game and lent solidity to the United midfield.

#2 Chelsea found the equalizer following an error by De Gea

David de Gea is going through a lean patch, and made another costly mistake on Sunday. Just as United had seemed to do enough to secure a lead by the end of the first half, De Gea’s mistake allowed Chelsea to come back into the match.

Antonio Rudiger got the ball and took a shot at goal from 25 yards out. De Gea did not parry the ball properly and tried to grip it instead. He could not hold on to the ball and Alonso, who was lurking nearby, received it on rebound and finished in a cool manner. It was his 18th goal for Chelsea.

Chelsea started with Willian, Gonzalo Higuain and Eden Hazard as their front three. Higuain was a peripheral figure in the match, and has now scored only 4 goals in 15 matches since joining Chelsea. Hazard was surprisingly subdued and did not have much of an effect on the game.

#3 Despite substitutions in the second half, United could not find the winning goal

United made some changes in the second half by taking off Bailly, Mata and Rashford. Marcos Rojo, Scott McTominay and Alexis Sanchez were introduced in their place respectively, but could not make any significant impact on the game. Those changes were not enough for United in their pursuit of a winner.

Lukaku continued his hard work, but could not find the elusive goal for United. They got close to finding the match-winner in the injury time, but Chelsea’s substitute Pedro Rodriguez made a goal-line clearance from a corner.

Pogba tried to play box-to-box at times, and succeeded in creating some moves for United, but those were not potent enough to beat the Chelsea defence. In the end, United had to be content with a point only, and would find it extremely difficult to finish inside the top 4.