Manchester United maybe did not win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but this was another strong performance from Erik ten Hag’s side. After comfortably getting past Tottenham Hotspur and outclassing Antonio Conte’s team, the match against the other London side turned out to give new reasons for hope among Man United fans, despite not getting a win. United drew 1-1, salvaging a late point. It was Jorginho who scored the opener after 87 minutes and from a penalty spot, before Casemiro shocked Stamford Bridge with a 94th-minute equaliser, to get United a valuable point on a tough trip. Here is what we learned from this interesting match.
Ten Hag Gets A Tactical Victory
It is not often you see in big Premier League matchups that a manager gets such a clear tactical victory over his colleague. That is what happened when Ten Hag managed to outwit Graham Potter with his 4-2-3-1/4-1-4-1 formation. United dominated in the first half hour, closing the passing lanes to Chelsea’s wing-backs so much so that Potter decided to substitute Marc Cucurella and make a switch from his initial 3-4-2-1 to play with a back four.
United Could Have Gotten More From First Half
Unfortunately, United’s strong start and domination in the opening 35 minutes did not lead to much. Marcus Rahsford could have done better when he came up against Kepa and tried to chip the ball over Chelsea goalkeeper. Antony probably had the best chance of the match, when he could not get a better finish from his weaker right foot. Chelsea were struggling and with United unable to get the most out of their dominant performance away from home, they had to scrap for a point in the final minutes of the match. That is too bad, but at least we have seen a side to this United team that will offer more hope for future big Premier League clashes.
New Problem For Varane
Ever since Raphael Varane joined Man United, the French centre-back has had problems with injuries. They have been keeping him off the pitch quite a lot and a new injury against Chelsea will at least make him miss out on the remainder of United’s matches before the World Cup starts. But even worse for the player, Varane left the pitch in tears, fearing that this injury could mean he will miss the tournament in Qatar altogether. It remains to be seen whether that could be the case or not.
No Ronaldo And No Surprise
And ultimately, United faced Chelsea without the help of Cristiano Ronaldo. Just as Erik ten Hag announced before, the Portuguese star was not part of the matchday squad, as a reprimand for his unacceptable behaviour in the final minutes of the Tottenham Hotspur match. United had a strong outing and won important three points against Spurs, in what was possibly the team’s best performance this season, but Ronaldo had to make it about himself, leaving the bench before the match ended. This game against Chelsea further proved United can do without him, even though poor finishing was the reason behind not winning the match.
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