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Manchester United and Chelsea played out a 1-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday, April 28.
Chelsea were easily the superior side in the opening half but they failed to break the deadlock thanks to some wasteful finishing upfront. Kai Havertz wasted numerous chances in the opening half to put Chelsea ahead. The German wasted three great chances to score, two of which were created by N'Golo Kante and one by Reece James.
It took Chelsea 60 minutes to score the opening goal of the game as Marcos Alonso smashed one in from close range to give David de Gea no chance. Reece James' cross fell nicely for Havertz, whose header laid the foundation for Alonso to smack one in. Cristiano Ronaldo equalized two minutes later as he banged one past Edouard Mendy, beautifully controlling a pass from Nemanja Matic before thundering one in.
On that note, here's a look at the five hits and flops from either team in the game:
#5 Hit: Reece James (Chelsea)
Reece James was too good on the right hand side for Chelsea as he single-handedly neutralized the wing consisting of Alex Telles and Marcus Rashford. His strength, off-the-ball movement and pace to blast down the wing was quite impressive.
James won 13 duels, made three recoveries, put in four tackles, made two clearances, completed four dribbles and created four chances throughout the game. He even came close to scoring a goal, but his effort hit the woodwork and went out for a goal-kick.
#4 Flop: Alex Telles (Manchester United)
Alex Telles had another uninspiring game against Chelsea as he was unable to make his presence count. The Portuguese was unable to create anything substantial moving forward. Moreover, his attacking nature left him heavily exposed at the back, which Chelsea used to their advantage on numerous occasions.
All the good work for Chelsea's opening goal of the night also came in from his wing. Telles struggled to keep hold of James, who kept exploiting his disastrous positioning at the back.
#3 Hit: Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)
Marcos Alonso enjoyed a great game against Manchester United as he scored the opening goal of the game. After receiving the ball via Kai Havertz, the Spaniard volleyed one low to beat David de Gea. Alonso was astute offensively as well as defensively.
Alonso looked like a reliable channel moving forward as he linked up with the forwards brilliantly. The 31-year-old won four duels, made seven recoveries, won one tackle, made two clearances and created three chances throughout the game.
#2 Flop: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Marcus Rashford was given the go-ahead by Ralf Rangnick after his first-choice Jadon Sancho was unavailable due to illness. The Englishman had the chance to showcase his talent and go up the pecking order but failed to make any impact against Chelsea.
Rashford won just one out of his five duels and lost possession 10 times throughout his stay on the pitch. Moreover, he failed to create a single chance nor did he have a single shot towards goal.
The 24-year-old was taken off in the 79th minute in favor of Juan Mata. In all those 79 minutes of action, Rashford could only muster 25 touches on the ball.
#1 Hit: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Premier League goal against Chelsea as he banged in a volley to equalize for Manchester United. His first touch to bring the ball down was heavenly, and the second to beat Edouard Mendy was supreme.
This was the Portuguese's 17th Premier League goal of the season and is now second behind Mohamed Salah in the Golden Boot race. The Egyptian forward has 22 goals to his name.
Ronaldo has scored eight of Manchester United's last nine goals in the Premier League. The 37-year-old showed no signs of slowing down as he won six duels, made four recoveries, completed two dribbles and made two clearances throughout the game.
