Premier League match report: Chelsea 1-1 Man Utd

By Will Unwin at Stamford Bridge

As Leicester become the favourites to win the Premier League former title champions Chelsea and Manchester United played out a game of stunning mediocrity.

Jesse Lingard produced a rare moment of glory just after the hour mark thanks to a deft touch and shot to earn United the three points as John Terry started his farewell tour with a point thanks to Diego Costa’s late goal, but the rest was instantly forgettable in a season of indifference at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fans are loyal to their heroes; when Jose Mourinho was sacked they spent the following victory over Sunderland booing each goal and the players who they believe brought down their manager’s demise; on Sunday the faithful celebrated their departing leader and legend Terry by signing his name and showing only banners erected in his honour around the ground.

On the pitch there was less to get excited about early on as Manchester United dominated possession, keeping it for lengthy periods in the final third. Despite the presence of both Nemanja Matic and Jon Obi Mikel United were able to ease their way into the game while Chelsea slept.

Matteo Darmian overlapped with great regularity down the right, forcing John Terry and Cesc Fabregas to clear dangerous crosses, as the home team struggled to get to grips with their opponent’s higher tempo and greater intent.

As United pressed on it was Thibaut Courtois who was the first goalkeeper called into action. The Belgian got down well to a low drive from Michael Carrick and followed that up by tipping a fierce shot from Anthony Martial, that looked destined for the back of the net, just wide.

David De Gea’s first major involvement arrived after 28 minutes when Matic rose for a corner but his header across the net was plucked out of the air by the Spanish stopper. He was nearly beaten a few minutes later when Diego Costa finally had a positive impact on the game but he pull his shot wide after Oscar had played him through.

Chelsea claimed for a penalty just before the break when Terry smashed a shot against an onrushing Daley Blind. Despite the ball striking the arm any decision of foul play would have been harsh on United, as Michael Oliver pointed for a corner.

After scoring seven in as many games United were hoping Wayne Rooney could continue his run but their sole striker had to drop deep repeatedly to have any influence on a game passing him by. His shirt shot in anger came after the break when he stung the fingers of Courtois but it never looked like going in.

Like in the first-half, the visitors were the only team who reacted to kick-off and took charge of the opening stages. Next to test Courtois was Jesse Lingard but his curling effort from the edge of the area had neither the precision nor power to cause much troubled to the Belgian.

Eden Hazard was brought on and he was quickly followed by Gary Cahill who had to replace the injured Kurt Zouma who appeared to suffer a bad knee injury, falling to the ground in pain, meaning he was stretchered off after lengthy treatment.

Chelsea didn’t recover quickly enough from the loss of their powerful, French centre-back as Cameron Borthwick-Jackson broke down the left to cross for Lingard who spun in the area and rifled the ball beyond Courtois, leaving him no chance.

Branislav Ivanovic almost became an unlikely hero when the right produced a bicycle kick with his weaker left foot but De Gea was equal to it thanks to his reflexes allowing him to tip it over.

The home team started to get to grips with United at this point and Fabregas almost had them level but his compatriot De Gea would not be breached tipping over a fearsome shot from a narrow angle.

With less than two minutes to go Costa beat everyone in the air to get on the end of a Willian free-kick only to see his header loop over the bar much to United’s relief.

But it would not be denied in stoppage time when he found himself in space yards from goal. Borthwick-Jackson stopped his first effort but Costa recovered to tap the ball into an empty net. It was justification for his hard work despite having not threatened much prior to that.

It almost got better for Costa when he fired one from ten yards but De Gea refused to yield to the pressure and stuck out a strong arm.

A point each was a fair reflection of a game that will be seen as a barometer for both sides, knowing things can only get better for them.