Manchester United vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game
A late, late goal from Robin van Persie allowed Manchester United to escape with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.
Louis van Gaal's side had the greater number of shots over the course of the 90 minutes, but it was Jose Mourinho's side who carried the greater threat, with Didier Drogba eventually breaking the deadlock early in the second half to put the visitors in the driving seat.
Chelsea had chances to extend their advantage, but United never stopped pressing and got their rewards in the end. Van Persie steered home the equaliser in injury time just moments after Branislav Ivanovic had been sent off for picking up his second yellow card.
Here are some winners and losers from an intriguing battle at Old Trafford.
Winners: The Two Goalscorers
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After scoring his first goal in his second Chelsea spell in midweek, Didier Drogba got his first Premier League strike with a classic near-post header at Old Trafford.
With both Diego Costa and Loic Remy sidelined, the pressure was on the 36-year-old to prove he could still deliver at the highest level. And that is exactly what he did, linking his side well and breaking the deadlock with a typical striker's finish.
Far from being the sentimental signing many suspected, Drogba, added as a third option, may yet prove to be one of Mourinho's most astute pickups.
Robin van Persie, too, scored a valuable goal. His equaliser not only secured a point for United but also dragged him out of his recent rut. The Dutchman looked up for the fight all afternoon—working diligently as a lone striker to bring his team-mates into play—and got his reward in the closing stages.
But United manager Louis van Gaal was unhappy to see the striker cautioned for removing his shirt in celebration of his goal, as Jamie Jackson of The Guardian reported.
Van Gaal was quoted as saying:
"He did a stupid reaction after the goal.
You can be excited but you don’t have to pull your shirt off because then you have a yellow card.
It is not so smart.
"
Loser: United's Set-Piece Play
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Their equaliser ultimately came from a dead-ball situation, but that should not detract from the fact Manchester United were abject from such opportunities almost all afternoon. Time and again, corners and deep free-kicks swung in aimlessly, met convincingly by a Chelsea defender.
At the other end, too, United looked suspect. The opener came from what appeared to be fairly basic mistakes. Why was Rafael, one of the shortest players on the pitch, marking Didier Drogba, one of the best in the air? Why did Robin van Persie, who was initially on the near post, leave his station and fail to prevent Drogba's strike hitting the back of the net?
Afterwards, Van Gaal blamed a misunderstanding and the fact that Chelsea as a whole are a bigger team than United, but they certainly seemed to be basic errors in judgement.
United's equaliser, of course, came in similar circumstances with Chelsea failing to mark Marouane Fellaini properly as Van Persie steered home the equaliser. But the Blues at least had an excuse; moments earlier they had lost Ivanovic, a player who would have been expected to pick up the Belgian, and their defence consequently was in disarray.
Set pieces are such a key part of the modern game and can be decisive in tight games against close rivals. This match showed that United still have plenty of room for improvement in that area.
Winner: Louis Van Gaal
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There can surely be few feelings worse than losing (at anything) to your apprentice, and Louis van Gaal avoided that fate on Sunday. It may have been lucky—at least in the way it transpired—but United escaped with a point against a Chelsea side that, as Van Gaal said pre-match, are far further along in their "project" under Jose Mourinho.
Tactically, too, the Dutchman showed he can cope in the biggest games with his decision to ask his side to sit deep and compact. That allowed Chelsea's defenders a lot of freedom to push into the opposition side and successfully blunted much of their threat while also giving United the space to launch counter-attacks.
The fact United finished the game with more shots was perhaps a touch misleading (Chelsea arguably had the better openings), but Thibaut Courtois being named man of the match was not. The goalkeeper was forced into action on numerous occasions as United took the game to their opponents as best they could.
Van Gaal had few options available to him on the bench—James Wilson was his only substitution—but his side was still able to get something out of the game after going behind.
After his performance Sunday, United fans will be confident Van Gaal is the man to guide their club in big clashes such as this and eventually to success.
The title might be optimistic this season, but Van Persie doesn't think so. He told Sky Sports:
"Of course we can [catch Chelsea], there's a long way to go, nine, 10 games played and it's not even halfway.
In my opinion, we are better every day. In training and if you look at games, you can see we are comfy on the ball and we are playing better.
Now we have to stretch games longer. We extended that into the hour and we try to aim to play like that for an hour and a half.
"
Loser: Marcos Rojo
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Rojo was very poor from almost the first minute on Sunday, as he gave the ball away twice in dangerous positions that almost cost his side an early disadvantage. As the game wore on, he was forced to resort to the more physical side of the game in order to defend adequately, a clear indication that the quality of the game was proving to be a bit beyond him.
Rojo was a player that did not appear to be on Manchester United's radar before the World Cup, where he looked competent—if rarely much more—in Argentina's system. Nevertheless, you wonder if they already feel they made a mistake in spending so much time and money to prise the defender away from Sporting Lisbon. Yes, he fits nicely into Van Gaal's system when he wants to play a three-man defence, but he looks short of the requisite quality to play in the middle of a more conventional back four—the system Van Gaal (for now) seems to believe is the best approach.
Of course, Rojo is still adjusting to England, the Premier League, his new club and new manager with new ideas. It will take him time to do all those things, but this was not a good performance even with those mitigating circumstances. You wonder how long there will really be a place for him in this team—either when the rest of Van Gaal's defenders are fit or when there is an opportunity to make further additions to the squad. Rojo still has much to prove.
Winners: Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard
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Both Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard had sparkling individual games for Chelsea, stamping their authority on the contest in different ways. Both men deserved to come away on the winning side, although football rarely works in that way.
Matic showed why there has been so much focus on him this week and so much talk about how he is exactly the sort of player United have been missing. He bossed things in midfield, shackling Van Persie when he dropped deep and forcing United to go wide in pursuit of any attacking opportunities. Time and again, his physical pressure averted danger for the visitors.
Hazard, on the other hand, dazzled with his skill on one of the biggest stages and was perhaps unlucky that his moment of skill five minutes into the second half was not quite good enough to beat David de Gea and break the deadlock (although Drogba would do so from the resulting corner, so he still had a hand in it). Beyond that, he was always a big threat on the counter-attack, partnering well with Willian to scare United's defence. This is what the truly great players do: make an impact on a consistent basis in the biggest games. Hazard showed once again that he is getting ever better in that regard.
A word of praise for both goalkeepers, too, who impressed throughout with their calm under the high ball and on occasion with their reflexes when forced into the save. Saturday's Clasico may have had better attacking players on display, but this game undoubtedly had two superior goalkeepers involved.
Loser: Mourinho's Tactical Changes
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Hindsight is a wonderful thing—and is invariably 20/20—but one wonders if Chelsea ended up paying the price for their manager's early decision to resort to negative tactics.
Jose Mourinho's preferred methods, especially in big games, are well-known now. It was clear what he was trying to do when he replaced Oscar (who had been booked) with John Obi Mikel shortly after the hour mark. Mikel joined Matic as a two-man "wall" at the base of midfield, with Cesc Fabregas dropping to join those two rather than fully playing in the No. 10 role that Oscar had previously occupied.
Mourinho's desire to protect what Chelsea had, rather than push forward in search of a clinching second goal, continued in the closing stages. He brought on Kurt Zouma (an additional central defender) to shore things up. That didn't work, though, with Ivanovic's sending-off leading to Van Persie's strike.
Again, this is second-guessing a successful manager, but did he go defensive too soon? Would it not have made more sense to keep pushing at 1-0, when Chelsea were in front and also marginally in control, to try and get a clinching goal?
Mourinho will blame the referee, but one might wonder whether his side also paid the price for his own reluctance to continue playing in anything approaching an open style.
Winner: The Premier League Title Race
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After Manchester City's defeat against West Ham on Saturday, a victory in this game would have put Chelsea eight points clear of their most likely title rivals after just nine games. Obviously, there is a long way to go and a lot can change, but it would have felt like the title was there for Chelsea to take, so efficient and clinical have they been (especially against lesser opposition) this season.
Van Persie's equaliser, then, kept that gap down to six points. That margin can be overhauled by City if they win both head-to-head meetings with Mourinho's men this season.
In reality, of course, we will all still expect Chelsea to come away with the title this season. They look the most complete side (as this game only helped underline, despite the late goal) and the most multidimensional. But at least the draw means we can keep up the pretence of it being an open race for a little bit longer.
Loser: Referee Phil Dowd
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As a referee in a big game, the one thing you hope for is that your decisions—even just one of them—do not become a subject of contention in the post-match discussion. In that regard, Phil Dowd failed noticeably.
Not only did the referee fail to award Chelsea a penalty in the first half after Branislav Ivanovic appeared to be hauled down by Chris Smalling, but he then sent off the Serbian for two soft challenges (although his first booking may have been for dissent as much as the challenge itself).
The second was certainly a free-kick, as Ivanovic clipped Angel Di Maria while both players ran for the ball, but how could it really be a yellow card when Ivanovic seemingly had no intention of making contact with his opponent? Instead, Dowd gave the defender his marching orders, and his absence was keenly felt as Van Persie stroked home the dramatic equaliser.
Such games are always tough for referees, but some key decisions undoubtedly went against Chelsea.
