A typical Jose Mourinho performance from the men in blue as chances were few and far between for both teams, but a cultured Eden Hazard finish just before half time was enough to see off the reds.
Mourinho’s men knew anything but a loss would see them take a step towards the title and right from the off you could tell what their intentions were when Kurt Zouma didn’t give Marouane Fellaini any room to assert any kind of aerial dominance. The Reds had to make numerous changes prior to this game due to injuries to four key players (Michael Carrick, Phil Jones, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo).
However despite these four injuries, Manchester United were the dominant side and racked up an astonishing 71% possession, although they looked as though they were lacking that final ball. United looked as though they had taken the lead when Ashley Young and Luke Shaw combined well down the left before Shaw found Wayne Rooney, 12 yards out with plenty of time but hit it wide. The away fans and David De Gea thought it had gone in.
Then Chelsea hit a long ball over and De Gea comes out to meet it on the edge of the box when it appeared to hit his arm, the referee waved play on. However, on second viewing it looked like the referee got it wrong and the Spaniard handled it outside the box.
Soon after that Chelsea broke the deadlock when Radamel Falcao appeared to be fouled on the half way line. The referee waved for play to continue, only for Oscar to play a tidy back heel into the path of Eden Hazard and the outcome was inevitable. After the game, Louis van Gaal made sure he pointed out the foul on Falcao that the ref missed.
It was 1-0 at the break, which arguably wasn’t a true telling of how the game was shaping. Manchester United were dominant and looked comfortable on the ball. In the second half Didier Drogba had a shot deflected over De Gea before Hazard hit the bar. Falcao also had a shot cannon off the outside of the post.
In the 90th minute Ander Herrera appeared to have been tripped by Gary Cahill in the Chelsea penalty area but the ref booked him for diving, this time the ref made the correct decision. Manchester United shouldn’t be too disheartened by the result as they played a fantastic game, it just wasn’t their day. Paddy McNair and Shaw both were very good and excelled in the opportunities they were given.
Comments.
Loading comments…