Another mistake from Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea saw Manchester United draw 1-1 with Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
The Red Devils claimed an early lead as birthday boy Juan Mata opened the scoring against his former club in the 11th minute. However, a mistake from the Spanish stopper gave Marcos Alonso the opportunity equalise minutes before the break as the race for the top four in the Premier League looks set to go the distance.
Positive start for Red Devils
With Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal having already lost prior to the match, the opportunity for both sides was huge and it Manchester United who started the better. It took a great block from Blues’ goalkeeper Kepa to stop Romelu Lukaku from opening the scoring. The Belgian was to be involved as the Red Devils took the lead. He clipped a wonderful pass over to Luke Shaw before the left-back pulled the ball back to Mata. The Spaniard then took a moment to compose himself to finish low into the net.
Eric Bailly almost doubled the lead as his header from a corner dropped just wide of the post.
De Gea drops clanger to gift Chelsea equaliser
Despite United’s dominance in the first-half the two sides headed into the break level after yet another mistake from David De Gea. Antonio Rudiger had a wild swing from considerable range that looked to be a relatively easy stop for the Spaniard. However, the ball bounced off of him and straight to Alonso, who duly tucked it home.
Willian went close to edging Chelsea ahead midway through the second-half as he whipped a free-kick just over the crossbar. Marcos Rojo, who had replaced the stricken Eric Bailly, could have snatched a late win as he found space from a corner but fellow substitute Pedro was positioned well to clear off of the line.
The match really was end-to-end in the closing stages as Gonzalo Higuain was played through but this De Gea held firm to deflect the ball behind as the game ended level.
Final Thoughts
There was a severe lack of quality in this game. Both sides really did struggle to create any real chances of note, which could potentially have been down to the magnitude of the game itself. In all, a point does not really do a favour for either of the two sides. The Red Devils remain in sixth, three points behind opponents Chelsea in fourth ahead of Sunday’s clash with Huddersfield Town. Meanwhile, Chelsea will turn their attentions to their upcoming match with Watford next weekend.
Match Report
Manchester United: De Gea (5); Shaw (7), Lindelof (6), Bailly (6) (Rojo (6), 72′), Young (5); Pogba (6), Matic (6), Herrera (6), Mata (7) (McTominay (N/A); Lukaku (7), Rashford (6) (Sanchez (6), 65′).
Chelsea: Kepa (6); Alonso (7), Luiz (6), Rudiger (6) (Christensen (6), 65′) , Azpilicueta (6); Kovacic (6) (Loftus-Cheek (6), 75′), Jorginho (6), Kante (6); Hazard (6), Higuain (5), Willian (6) (Pedro (N/A), 84′).
Goals: Mata (11′), Alonso (43′)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Yellow Cards: Herrera (43′), Willian (52′), Kovacic (53′), Rojo (80′), Young (89′)
Red Cards: N/A
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