REPORT: CHELSEA 1
MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Barclays Premier League | 7 February 2016 |
Stamford Bridge | Att: 41,434 | Scorers: Lingard 61',
Costa 91'
Manchester United secured an entertaining 1-1
draw at champions Chelsea on Sunday, although
one point could easily have been three for Louis
van Gaal's unfortunate Reds.
Jesse Lingard scored the biggest goal of his
flourishing career with a superb effort that flew
past the impressive Thibaut Courtois, but a
potential victory was cruelly taken away by Diego
Costa's 91st-minute leveller. The result leaves
United fifth in the Barclays Premier League and six
points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, yet
the spirit that underpinned this performance
suggests progress can be made.
Louis van Gaal named an unchanged XI after
admitting he “did not have an argument” to rotate
following the convincing 3-0 win over Stoke City in
midweek. The manager will have been pleased by
his team’s start, too, after the Reds earned six
corners in the opening 20 minutes and registered
three shots on target through Cameron Borthwick-
Jackson, Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial.
The vociferous Costa, making his first career
appearance against United, headed over for
Chelsea on 26 minutes and Nemanja Matic nodded
at goal to force a fine save from David De Gea
moments later. Costa and Oscar also missed the
target from inside the penalty area just after the
half-hour mark as the first half became much more
competitive following a one-sided opening.
Marouane Fellaini lost his marker to head wide of
the left post on 40 minutes before an excellent
cross from the industrious Matteo Darmian rolled
across the entire six-yard area without anybody
obliging the invitation to score past a stranded
Thibaut Courtois. Daley Blind then survived a late
penalty scare in the closing seconds when his hand
collided with a John Terry shot from eight yards.
MATCH STATS AT HALF-TIME
POSSESSION: Chelsea 39% United 61%
SHOTS: Chelsea 6 United 8
SHOTS ON TARGET: Chelsea 1 United 3
CORNERS: Chelsea 3 United 10
Wayne Rooney began the second half by heading
tamely at goal from a Lingard cross, but the in-
form captain mustered a much more dangerous
effort shortly afterwards when his low strike from
around 20 yards was clawed away by Courtois.
After Martial had dragged a shot wide, the Belgian
goalkeeper was required again to parry Lingard’s
guided effort before blocking Rooney’s follow-up.
The match was temporarily halted on 55 minutes
when young Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma suffered
a serious-looking injury when landing from an aerial
challenge that forced him to be stretchered off.
United scored upon the restart and in brilliant
fashion as Lingard superbly turned on the ball
inside the penalty area and shot into the top
corner, opening the scoring for the second time in
a week following his headed effort against Stoke in
midweek. It was the 23-year-old's fourth strike in
19 senior outings this season.
The strong right hand of De Gea maintained
United’s clean sheet on 67 minutes, when he
displayed his enduring class by pushing a powerful
volley from Branislav Ivanovic over the crossbar.
The Spain international then denied his compatriot
Cesc Fabregas with another outstanding save, this
time using both hands to parry a thumping close-
range effort away from the top corner.
United fought for the win but frustratingly
conceded in the first of six added minutes, when
Costa latched on to a Fabregas pass to round De
Gea and finish into a empty net, salvaging a point
for Chelsea. The powerful striker almost bagged a
winner just seconds later with a low shot that was
saved once again by De Gea, whose performance
was unquestionably crucial to what was eventually
a hard-fought draw.
MATCH STATS AT FULL-TIME
POSSESSION: Chelsea 49% United 51%
SHOTS: Chelsea 15 United 17
SHOTS ON TARGET: Chelsea 4 United 7
CORNERS: Chelsea 9 United 11
THE TEAMS
Chelsea: Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma (Cahill 59’),
Terry, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Matic (Pedro 67'), Willian,
Fabregas, Oscar (Hazard 54’), Diego Costa.
Subs not used: Begovic, Baba Rahman, Loftus-
Cheek, Traore.
United: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind,
Borthwick-Jackson, Fellaini (Schneiderlin 78'),
Carrick, Lingard (Memphis 86'), Mata (Herrera 94'),
Martial, Rooney.
Subs not used: Romero, McNair, Varela, Pereira.
Booked: Blind, Smalling
MATCH REACTION
Van Gaal: "I think we played a superb game until
the last quarter. We did not keep the ball and we
did not play the attack in the way I think we have
to do. We were unlucky that we got the goal
against us, it was unbelievable. We did not reward
ourselves."
Mata: “We played very good football. Coming here
to Chelsea isn’t easy, but particularly in the first 30
minutes and in the second half we played well –
we had it so close. But Chelsea were always
pushing and they scored a late goal and we didn’t
have any time to get another goal. It’s frustrating.”
Lingard: "We played the majority of the game well,
and to concede so late feels like a defeat. We’ve
got to move onto the next game now. The goal
was just instinct to turn and hit it. I was glad that
it went in but it was the three points that we
wanted."
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