Robin van Persie struck late on at Old Trafford to give United a share of the points in a thrilling contest against Chelsea. The league leaders had taken the lead after Didier Drogba powered a header past David De Gea from a corner, but van Persie was on hand to smash home after Thibaut Courtois saved Marouane Fellaini’s initial effort. The point means that United remain ten points behind Chelsea, who extend their lead at the top of the table to four points ahead of second-placed Southampton, and six ahead of main rivals Manchester City in third.
The game was a feisty affair, with ten bookings in total and Branislav Ivanovic getting sent off in the build-up to United’s equaliser, and there was further controversy as Chelsea were denied a strong claim for penalty in the first half. Mourinho, obviously unwilling to be too openly critical of the referee due to the possible repercussions, hinted at poor decisions in his post-match interview with Sky but should be relatively content coming away with a point from Old Trafford.
Contrary to previous matches under Mourinho, the game was an open, stretched affair with end-to-end counter attacks a common sight in the first half. Clear cut chances still remained a premium, however, and the best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes fell to van Persie, when a perfectly-weighted slide rule pass by Adnan Januzaj put the Dutchman in behind the Chelsea defence, only for Courtois to save the resulting shot expertly. Chelsea were then denied a penalty amidst very strong appeals, and replays suggest that they had every right to feel aggrieved. Cesc Fabregas’s delivery from a costless kick was attacked by both John Terry and Ivanovic, only for both players to be aggressively wrestled to the floor by United defenders. Having seen Ryan Shawcross punished for a similar, if not slightly less serious, offence just a week ago, van Gaal might consider himself lucky that his team didn’t concede a penalty.
With Diego Costa and Loic Remy both unavailable due to injury, it was Didier Drogba that led the line for Chelsea and he showed glimpses of his previous best, forcing De Gea into a save after Oscar lay the ball off. He did eventually have the beating of De Gea in the second half though, when his run across the near post completely overpowered Rafael from a Fabregas corner, and the Chelsea legend turned back the years with a neat, glancing header past a helpless De Gea, despite the best attempts of van Persie on the line. Surprisingly enough, it was only Drogba’s second goal against Manchester United in the league but van Gaal will be disappointed with the lack of organisation from his defenders that led to such a mismatch in the man-marking. Nemanja Matic, an unsung hero from the match today, protecting Chelsea’s back four with immense strength and dominance throughout, had initially dragged Fellaini, who was meant to mark Drogba, out of position at the corner, leaving the Ivorian up against a powerless Rafael. The corner had originally come from a spectacular De Gea save, diving low to his right and pushing away as Eden Hazard, a constant thorn in the United side with his dazzling dribbles, broke through, and the Spaniard seemed particularly frustrated at conceding such a basic goal.
De Gea was soon required again, saving smartly from a long range Willian drive, and Chelsea looked in control as the match reached its conclusion, simply shutting the game out in traditional Mourinho-style, epitomised by the defensive substitution of Mikel for Oscar. It seemed as though United had run out of ideas, when Angel Di Maria, who was disappointingly below his usual high standards today, took Ivanovic on down the left flank in stoppage time, only for the Serb to clip him down. Having already been booked, it was straight down the tunnel for Ivanovic, leaving Chelsea a man light for what would be the last attack of the match.
In came the cross from Di Maria, finding Fellaini unmarked in the centre, and although his header was initially parried by Courtois, the ball fell kindly for van Persie, ramming home in emphatic style as Mourinho turned away in disgust. Van Persie has been in a poor run of form recently, which continued today for large parts of the match, looking off the pace on various occasions, and seemed particularly passionate in his celebration after scoring the goal, possibly more out of relief than anything else, and will hope that the goal will give him the confidence to really kickstart his season. Whether Ivanovic’s presence in the box would have made a difference is a debate that will run for days. United won’t care a bit though, and will go into the Manchester derby next week in high spirits, on the back of a solid result and an impressive performance, whilst Chelsea will be more than happy with their four point lead at the top of the table.
| Manchester United (1) | Chelsea (1) | ||
 |  |  |  |
| De Gea | 7 | Courtois | 7 |
| Rafael | 6 | Ivanovic | 4 |
| Smalling | 7 | Cahill | 6 |
| Rojo | 6 | Terry | 6 |
| Shaw | 7 | Luis | 5 |
| Blind | 5 | Fabregas | 4 |
| Mata | 4 | Matic | 8 |
| Fellaini | 8 | Willian | 5 |
| Januzaj | 7 | Oscar | 4 |
| Van Persie | 6 | Hazard | 8 |
| Di Maria | 4 | Drogba | 7 |
| Substitutions | |||
| Wilson | 5 | Mikel | 5 |
| Schurrle | - | ||
| Zouma | - | ||