Chelsea 3, Manchester United 3: 6 Things We Learned about United

Chelsea and Man United battled it out to a 3-3 draw today at Stamford Bridge. United managed to come back from a three-goal deficit to salvage a point; however, concerns will be raised in the United camp as to how Chelsea scored three times without reply.

A Jonny Evans own goal gave Chelsea the lead on 36 minutes, and then this lead was trebled by Juan Mata and David Luiz shortly after halftime. A brace of penalties from Wayne Rooney on 58 minutes and 69 minutes brought United to within touching distance before Javier Hernandez squared everything up on 84 minutes.

But what have we learned about United from this match? Let me share a few of the points which I have earmarked.

Don't Ever Write off the Champions

Admittedly, I was among the fans with their heads in their hands when the third Chelsea goal went in—I even went as far as saying that there was no way that United could get anything from the game.

United proved today that you can never stop pushing them, because the moment you take your finger off the trigger, they will punish you for it.

The lack of discipline from Daniel Sturridge allowed United to open the scoring, Ivanovic's discipline again for the second and poor marking allowed Javier Hernandez to bury the equalising header.

There were times when I genuinely believed that United could snatch the win from the ashes.

United Aren't Too Bad at Penalites

United have been awarded eight penalties this season, half of which were awarded this week.

Following their two midweek penalties against Stoke, United were awarded another two penalties against Chelsea and, duly, Wayne Rooney converted them. Chelsea fans may complain that it's a bit of a cheap way to tie the game, but their players' lack of discipline led to them being awarded in the first place.

To be honest, United should have had three penalties had Gary Cahill's tackle on Danny Welbeck been picked up in the first half, which could have made it a very different game.

Previous to this match, Rooney had missed his last two penalties, so it was good to see him get back on track in this game.

De Gea Stepped It Up a Gear...

It was probably more prominent in the second half; however, David de Gea generally looked a little more on his toes in today's game.

In the previous game against Liverpool, he looked lax at times and was punished for it. Today, he looked a little more comfortable, and on the whole, his shot stopping was excellent.

The particular save of note came in the dying seconds from Juan Mata's stinging free-kick, which was heading for the top corner.

Yes, he conceded three goals, but two of them took very unfortunate deflections off of his defence and Juan Mata's goal was simply unstoppable. A good performance overall from the Spaniard.

...But He Still Has a Ways to Go

While his performance was good, there were still moments where de Gea looked a little shaky.

Early in the first half, he scuffed a few punched clearances, which could have potentially left United in hot water.

De Gea has four weeks to prove himself while Lindegaard is sidelined, and this is really his opportunity to show Sir Alex that he should be United's No. 1.

Rooney's Looking Hungry

David Luiz's goal served as a red rag to Wayne Rooney. After Chelsea had netted the third, he looked really up for the game and looked eager to contribute to every single aspect of the attacking play.

As well as acting as an imposing threat during the attacking moves, as per usual, Rooney was always willing to pull back and defend; the striker's consistent urge to be a part of the game is somewhat admirable.

Some would say that Rooney's performance inspired the team to come back from the three-goal deficit, but it begs the question as to why he didn't look so up for the game in the first half.

2 Points Dropped, Not 1 Point Gained

While it was an admirable feat to come back from a three-goal deficit to manage a draw, the real issue is that United dropped two points in a game which they could have realistically won.

Going into halftime down 1-0 was possibly acceptable, but there were no real excuses for going three goals down.

Chelsea had key players missing, and United had key players returning to the squad—three points should have been in the bag.

With the weekend over, Manchester City are two points clear—and that's the real issue coming out of this match.