It has come to feel like a collector’s item – a Manchester United goal in the Premier League. And so when it came, Bruno Fernandes converting from the penalty spot on 70 minutes, the celebrations were suitably wild. Especially from Ruud van Nistelrooy, the United interim manager, who is keeping the dug-out warm for Rúben Amorim, who will take over next Monday.
Van Nistelrooy pumped his fists, he ran down the line, he jumped up and punched the air. It was a release of emotion because there had been so many frustrations in terms of the United performance. It was only the team’s ninth goal of the league season – in their tenth game. Remarkable levels of profligacy has been one of the themes of their season; one of the many drivers in the demise of Erik ten Hag.
The lead would last only four minutes. Chelsea deserved something, especially on the back of their first-half display, and they got it when the game’s best player, Moisés Caicedo, caught a volley so sweetly on the edge of the area after a half-cleared corner. His shot picked out the bottom corner, André Onana powerless.
There were chances at both ends thereafter, Fernandes blowing a gilt-edged one at the very end but the draw was about right. It left United on 12 points, their lowest tally after 10 league fixtures since 1986-87, the season which saw Sir Alex Ferguson take charge on 6 November.
Amorim has had the big buildup, blanket coverage since last Monday which has made him sound like the greatest young manager of all time. United – and everyone associated with them – deal only in drama and extremes. The hope of what is to come is tantalising for the club’s supporters.
It was down to Van Nistelrooy again here, game two of his four in caretaker charge and it was always going to be a tougher challenge than Wednesday’s Carabao Cup romp against Leicester. Chelsea had travelled with confidence, Enzo Maresca reverting to his first choice XI after rotating all of them in the Carabao Cup exit at Newcastle. The team was set up for Cole Palmer and he was prominent, as usual.
There was a reason why Palmer sought space up the inside left; to get at Casemiro, to exploit the United midfielder’s lack of mobility. It was from a loose Casemiro pass that Palmer almost profited early on, Caicedo stepping up to win the ball and feed him. Palmer was kept out by a solid piece of one-on-one defending by Matthijs de Ligt.
Chelsea were the better team in the first-half, more cohesive up through the thirds, Caicedo excellent. Their big chance was Noni Madueke’s header from a Palmer corner on 15 minutes. With Wesley Fofana also free behind him, Madueke adjusted his body to head against the post. Was Fofana better placed? On the rebound, Lisandro Martínez swiped at Levi Colwill. Chelsea wanted a penalty. It would have been a generous award.
Chelsea’s press created a few problems for United, especially when Onana played Casemiro into trouble, Caicedo making the challenge and watching the ball loop up and over the crossbar. Chelsea’s general menace, though, did not translate into many clear chances before the interval.
United wanted to win the ball and transition quickly, looking for Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford. There were too many times when they either missed their passes or did not move the ball quickly enough. More broadly, they struggled for options.