Manchester United were able to grab a point at Stamford Bridge, tying Chelsea 2-2 in London. The home side would strike first, with Rudiger opening the scoring. A brace from Martial would give United a shock lead, but Ross Barkley was able to grab a late late equalizer to split the points between the two teams.
Mourinho made two changes from starting XI that beat Newcastle before the international break. Mata came in for McTominay to face his former club, while Bailly made way for Lindelöf at the heart of the defense. It was interesting to see Alexis Sanchez on the bench to start, as some saw his winner last time out as a chance to kickstart his United career.
The pattern of the contest was set early on, with Chelsea maintaining possession, and United alright with sitting back.
Matic gave away a free kick in dangerous position after lazily bringing down Hazard on the edge of the area. He was bailed out by Willian, who hit his effort well over.
The first chance for United came halfway through the half. A long free kick was cleared by Chelsea, and fell to Shaw at the edge of the area. He crossed it right back in, and picked out Lukaku, but the ball was too high, and the Belgian saw his header fly wide of the target.
Chelsea would break the deadlock off a header from Rudiger. A corner was whipped in by William, and the German defender was able to lose his marker, and head it into the ground with power past De Gea.
Marcos Alonso was played through on goal near the end of the half by a dinked ball over the top. His touch let him down, and the ball rolled to De Gea.
It was a mix of emotions at the end of the half for United, who will have been happy with the performance, but thoroughly annoyed that the only goal came from a routine set piece.
It should’ve been two for the home side mere minutes into the second half. Jorginho skipped past Pogba and Matic in the midfield before playing in Morata. He turned his marker well, but hit his shot right at De Gea.
They were quickly made to pay, as United grabbed an equalizer soon after. It was chaos in the penalty area, as crosses kept flying in as Chelsea were unable to clear. It ended up falling to Martial, who brought the ball down, and smashed it past Kepa on the volley to make it 1-1.
United had a half chance immediately after, when Matic won the ball and found Pogba, who fired wide from distance.
Chelsea had another huge chance of a set piece, when a long free kick from Willian picked out his Brazilian countryman in David Luiz. He made a solid connection with his head, but it flew just past the outside of the far post.
David De Gea then reminded everyone that he is the best goalkeeper on the planet. Kante picked up the ball on the edge of the area, as was in acres of spaces. He drilled a shot that was heading toward the bottom corner, but De Gea was able to stretch out and get a hand on it.
The save would prove especially crucial as United scored right afterwards. Mata was able to get past David Luiz, before laying it off to Rashford. His cross picked out Martial at the far post, who cut back inside, and curled a beauty into the far corner.
Mourinho made his first change with a quarter of an hour left in the match, with Juan Mata coming off for Ander Herrera. Fair play to the Stamford Bridge crowd, who applauded their former playmaker off the pitch.
The home side begun to pile on the pressure, and thought they had created a chance after some superb link up play from Hazard and Giroud, but the shot from distance was blocked by Shaw.
United made two changes in quick succession with about ten minutes from time, as Andreas Pereira and Alexis Sanchez came on for Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
It would not be meant to be, as the home side grabbed an equalizer in the final minute. A header from Alonso hit off the post, but fell to Ross Barkley, who tapped it in from close range.
It was heartbreaking to not steal all three points, but United shouldn’t be upset with taking a point in a tough place to play.
Manchester United’s next fixture is on Tuesday, as the Red Devils face Juventus in the Champions League.
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