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Manchester United have been held to a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in what was a bitter conflict at Outdated Trafford.
It was a difficult match for Man United, particularly being Ruud van Nistelrooy’s second recreation in cost following Erik ten Hag’s departure. Nonetheless, captain Bruno Fernandes rose to the event, taking a composed spot kick to safe a degree for his staff in a difficult fixture.
Barely a minute in, Rasmus Hojlund was taken down as he sprinted into the ultimate third. He was introduced down, handing United a free kick, nonetheless, Fernandes’ cross into the field was lower out.
For a lot of the opening minutes, it was Chelsea within the driver’s seat, launching fast assaults and outpacing United’s backline. The house aspect struggled to take care of possession, stringing collectively just a few passes at a time earlier than the Chelsea defence would lower them out.
Within the thirteenth minute, Chelsea got here inside touching distance of scoring. A Cole Palmer nook hurtled to Noni Madueke, whose header struck the upright. United’s defence was in determined want of extra focus and tighter marking.
Within the seventeenth minute, Andre Onana got here near freely giving a purpose for nothing. Lisandro Martinez performed a brief move to the United goalkeeper, who then handed to Casemiro, who was marked. Thankfully, Casemiro was in a position to clear the ball out of hazard.
After 20 minutes of play, United lastly sparked to life. Whereas on the assault, Hojlund collapsed within the field after Levi Colwill positioned his palms on him. The VAR officers reviewed the incident and decided that the penalty enchantment carried no advantage.
United’s entrance three then launched a speedy counter-attack, with Hojlund, who switched to the left flank, passing a via ball throughout the face of purpose to Alejandro Garnacho on the best. Garnacho took a blistering shot that was properly saved by Robert Sanchez.
As a Chelsea cross got here in from a nook, Onana lept as much as catch the ball and dropped it; nonetheless, he did properly to compensate by grabbing maintain of the ball after it bounced. Then, Colwill shoulder-charged Onana, knocking him off his ft. Whereas the foul was given, Colwill was fortunate to not be booked for an clearly malicious problem.
9 minutes earlier than the break, Hojlund took a blistering shot that was saved. Nevertheless, the play was introduced again as United was awarded a free kick on the sting of the field for a late foul on Manuel Ugarte. Fernandes’ effort hit the highest of the defensive wall.
Ugarte was United’s first reserving of the match, receiving a yellow card within the forty second minute for crashing into Palmer, who was sprinting towards the United field.
Diogo Dalot quickly adopted in Ugarte’s footsteps, receiving a reserving one minute into stoppage time after bringing down Pedro Neto.
On the stroke of half-time, Fernandes whipped in a cross to Rashford, who slammed his volley into the body of the purpose. Because the ball flew out of play, the referee blew the whistle for the break.
It was a chaotic first half of soccer, with neither aspect fairly in a position to construct some momentum. Ruud van Nistelrooy clearly wanted to discover a solution to organise his staff extra successfully in order to enhance their cohesion, significantly up entrance.
The second half began off very similar to the primary ended, with United largely missing any chemistry in the midst of the park.
It was Chelsea who have been in on purpose first, with Pedro Neto taking a shot from distance that skidded previous the far put up.
Within the 59th minute, Fernandes performed out a brief nook to Rashford, whose shot on the sting of the field ended up within the keeper’s gloves.
65 minutes in, Neto tried one other lengthy shot, with Onana doing properly to avoid wasting the grounded try.
Rashford then began a counter-attack, pulling the ball again to Garnacho within the centre, who took a smooth shot that the keeper simply gathered.
Within the 68th minute, Rashford was booked after complaining to the referee a few foul on him.
Simply moments later, Hojlund was introduced down within the field by the keeper, with the Outdated Trafford crowd erupting as a penalty was awarded.
Fernandes stepped up coolly to the spot, sending the keeper the fallacious means with a well-placed shot within the backside nook. 1-0 to United with slightly over 20 minutes to go.
Amad Diallo got here on for Rashford within the 73rd minute, offering some recent legs on the assault.
With 16 minutes left on the clock, Neto gained a nook for Chelsea. Palmer’s nook discovered Moises Caicedo on the sting of the field, who let rip a surprising volley from outdoors the field that ripped via United’s defence on the best way into the again of the online.
Within the 83rd minute, Joshua Zirkzee was handed a possibility to develop into United’s hero, changing Hojlund up entrance simply as United desperately wanted a striker who might bag a winner.
Casemiro was booked a minute later after bringing down Neto on the touchline.
Zirkzee had a scoring alternative as he bought on the tip of a via ball. Nevertheless, he was already closely marked upon receiving the ball, making him straightforward to dispossess.
Victor Lindelof changed Ugarte, including additional manpower to the struggling United defence within the dying moments of the sport. Fernandes then obtained a profitable scoring alternative when the ball arrived at his ft within the centre of the field; nonetheless, he wastefully blasted his shot properly over the crossbar.
4 minutes of added time have been introduced, giving United ample time to discover a winner. On the flip aspect, nonetheless, the defence would want to maintain their wits about them to keep away from any late heartache.
With slightly over a minute to go, Martinez was booked for a excessive boot throughout a problem on Palmer.
VAR determined to overview the incident for a possible pink card; nonetheless, the officers agreed with the referee’s authentic resolution. The yellow card would stand. Amad was then booked after his personal protests have been deemed extreme.
With the sport persevering with past 4 minutes of stoppage time, Zirkzee took a close-range shot that was deflected out for a nook. It was one last alternative for United to seize a winner. Fernandes’ low cross was simply disposed of, with the referee bringing an finish to proceedings.
It was a troublesome match for Van Nistelrooy’s aspect, whose struggles up entrance persist. Nonetheless, it was an honest effort put in by United as they appear to regulate after a turbulent interval of their historical past.
Beginning XI: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Martinez, Fernandes, Hojlund, Rashford, Garnacho, Casemiro, Dalot, UgarteSubs: Amad, Zirkzee, Lindelof
Characteristic picture Michael Regan by way of Getty Photos
