The Blues can take satisfaction in collecting a hard-earned point from a match in which they soaked up plenty of pressure.
The home side were on top for much of the opening 45 minutes and there was Chelsea relief when two efforts came back off our woodwork early in the match. Between those strikes, it needed a special save to keep out John Terry who looked certain to score from a corner.
Guus Hiddink’s side, who were playing without a recognised striker, came more into the game after the interval and Nemanja Matic had a golden chance on the break which sadly he could not convert, but it also took a Thibaut Courtois save equal to De Gea’s to keep the contest scoreless on an evening when the goalkeepers excelled. Earlier in the second period there had been saves from Pedro and Cesar Azpilicueta shots.
Hiddink’s line-up options were limited by injuries to Gary Cahill and Loic Remy and illness for Cesc Fabregas, ensuring that Eden Hazard on his return to the starting XI would play up front given the suspension for Diego Costa.
Kurt Zouma was the natural replacement for Cahill at the back and John Mikel Obi, who had anyway come on for Fabregas at half-time on Boxing Day, continued alongside Nemanja Matic in central midfield.
Making it a double Dutch team selection for this match, Hiddink’s compatriot Louis van Gaal rung the changes to his side that had lost at Stoke two days earlier. In a reshuffled defence Daley Blind moved back to the centre with Matteo Darmian coming in at right-back.
Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger were reintroduced in central midfield and Wayne Rooney was back in up front.
Also starting the game was former Chelsea Player of the Year Juan Mata who came a whisker away from scoring after only two minutes, drilling a shot against the bar after Rooney had laid off a throw-in.
If that was a wake-up call for the visitors, we very soon sounded one of our own for Man United.
Blind, chasing back, slipped to allow Hazard to run clear and cross. Ashley Young, playing at left-back, hurriedly cleared the ball behind for a corner from in front of his own goalie who was immediately called into action to keep out Terry’s stooping header from Willian’s corner. It was a very good one-handed reaction save by the Spaniard and would prove to be the closest the Blues came to scoring in the opening half.
Schneiderlin had the next dangerous effort after Chelsea were slow to cut out a ball to Rooney inside our area. The Frenchman smashed the laid-back ball not too far wide with Courtois diving.
Oscar then executed a well-judged recovery tackle deep in our half after he had initially given the ball away. The game was approaching 15 minutes played and the Blues had yet to settle.
Man United were finding space in wide areas. They hit woodwork for a second time when Anthony Martial wormed his way in from the right to a shooting position and struck the bottom of the post.
Martial claimed a penalty soon after on hitting the turf as he ran at Zouma but Chelsea would have felt incensed had that one been given. Young escaped a booking for pulling back Hazard as the referee became the centre of attention for the rest of the half. He played on as Zouma appeared to be fouled on the edge of the Man United area as the Blues attacked. The home team broke rapidly and Mikel was shown yellow for halting them with a foul on Martial.
Rooney then shot from distance but Courtois was equal to it before Schneiderlin was booked for catching Willian as they both stretched for a 50-50.
We had now reached the half-hour point of what had been an action-packed Monday evening encounter for the millions watching around the globe, but Chelsea needed to work out a way to threaten the United goal more on the break.
Herrera was booked for kicking the back of Hazard’s legs which meant Willian was standing over a free-kick, albeit one just too far out for a direct strike at goal. His delivery to the left post was crowded behind for a goal-kick.
Smalling was booked for fouling Hazard but Zouma hooked Willian’s free-kick from the flank well wide.
Blind could have been another player carded for taking down Hazard shortly before the interval but was let off, and Matic was not at all impressed when no yellow was shown after he was impeded when heading towards the home team’s penalty area. Man United were similarly decrying no card after a Pedro foul on Herrera, ensuring it had been a heated close to the first half.
We may have been under pressure for a lot of the opening 45 minutes but it was the Blues who began the second period on the front foot, although as at the start of the game we were denied by De Gea as he saved twice from national team colleagues. Hazard made a skilful incision through the defence and Pedro engineered the space to shoot cleanly. The goalie dived to save and then blocked the follow-up effort from Cesar Azpilicueta.
John Terry, who was playing an important part in keeping the home team at bay, stood up and won out as Rooney ran the ball at our skipper before on 55 minutes, it was Courtois’s turn to stand out. Martial got behind the right side of our defence and found the run of Herrera just four yards out but somehow Thibaut got across to save with his chest. Magnifique from the Belgian!
Just after the hour came the type of counter-attack the Blues had been hoping to mount. United as a team allowed themselves to be sucked too far over to our right so when Pedro spotted Matic’s sprint down the middle and played the right past, the Serbian was running in on goal with just De Gea to beat. Unfortunately his attempt was skied and our best chance of the game had gone.
When a more speculative Matic shot went wide soon after, there was loud supportive singing for the midfielder from the away section inside Old Trafford, always wonderfully vocal when up in these parts.
Ramires came on for the final 20 minutes, replacing Willian who had appeared in some discomfort for a while. There had been earlier calls for a handball by the Brazilian inside our area when the ball flicked off his thigh but play was waved on.
The Man United pressure had come more in bursts compared with the first half and Chelsea were asking more questions of their defence. Martial raced down the wing with Old Trafford roaring the young player on but Zouma’s athleticism curtailed that threatening attack.
Hazard became the second Chelsea booking for a late challenge on Young with Schweinsteiger ater added to the bookings for fouling Matic.
The final two chances of the game were Wayne Rooney’s but one of Man United’s big problems this season has been scoring at Old Trafford. That was emphasised when their captain firstly missed his kick in front of goal when found by a ball over the top and then volleyed wide when unmarked at the far post. His evening got worse when he was booked for studding Oscar in the calf.
Of the two sets of supporters, it was those in Chelsea blue applauding their team off more on the final whistle.
- Match stats:
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic; Willian (Ramires 70), Oscar (Loftus-Cheek 90+3), Pedro; Hazard.
Unused subs Begovic, Baba, Djilobodji, Kenedy, Traore.
Booked Mikel 27, Hazard 72.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Darmian (Borthwick-Jackson 70), Smalling, Blind (Jones 81), Young; Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger; Mata (Memphis 77), Herrera, Martial; Rooney (c).
Unused subs Romero, Carrick, Fellaini, Pereira.
Booked Schneiderlin 30, Smalling 39, Schweinsteiger 81, Rooney 90+1.
Referee Martin Atkinson
Crowd 75,275
- Match report by chelseafc.com
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