Concentration and composure were lacking in an otherwise positive Manchester United performance against a Chelsea side who grew into the game to eventually salvage a point right at the death – thanks to a 90th minute equalizer from Diego Costa, ensuring the home side’s unbeaten record since Jose Mourinho’s sacking. It was another two points dropped for Louis Van Gaal’s side chasing a top four finish who by all means approached the game the right way – on the front foot from the very first minute resulting in a truck load of corners, though none of the deliveries noticeably good.
United’s plan was very clear from the outset. They preferred to attack from the left flank where they expected to get plenty of joy harassing their right-back Branislav Ivanovic, exposing his lack of pace on the turn – which they did quite a few times through the in-form duo of Anthony Martial and the 17-year old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. With 15 passes between the two, the highest pass combination of the match, they overloaded that flank at will with Daley Blind joining the aforementioned pair when on the ball. The Red Devils created 13 chances in the game, 8 coming from the left hand side, had a whopping 17 shots on goal – 7 on target, suggesting their confidence and will to attack which was missing for most of the season.
Having made it a habit of scoring spectacular goals since the turn of the year, the trend continued at Stamford Bridge, when Jesse Lingard scored one of their goals of the season, with a touch and turn and a fine volleyed finish in the top corner, leaving Courtois in his wake – making it his 2nd consecutive goal in the league and fourth this season in 12 appearances. Manchester United would go on to have a few other chances throughout the game before and after the goal – but fail to capitalise on, only to pay the price for their lack of application on the day. Memphis, in particular, who was brought on by the manager towards the very end of the game, failed to cash in on a potentially devastating counterattack with an indecisive and futile attempt, losing the ball in the process instead of releasing Schneiderlin who was 5 yards from him and ultimately contributing to the equalizer at the other end, albeit indirectly.
Frustration in the end for Louis Van Gaal, as Manchester United failed to win a game they could have and should have won, in a week when their direct rivals for a place in the top four Manchester City had dropped points. With Jose Mourinho rumoured to be lurking in the shadows of the Dutchman, a win on Sunday might have kick-started a late surge to finish in the Champions League places – but with a six point gap now between them and fourth-placed City – it will need an almighty slip-up from one of the top four sides now in these forthcoming weeks for United to gain an advantage on.
A clearly disappointed and irksome Louis Van Gaal admitted that the gap between themselves and the top four sides was now getting ‘bigger and bigger‘ when he was not quashing rumours of an apparent deal between United and Jose Mourinho. He said,
“I feel we didn’t reward ourselves with a victory because we were the better team. Until the last quarter we played very well and could have scored more goals. But you have to control the game better and we did not do that. It isn’t a lack of concentration it is not being composed when you are defending. When we have the ball we have to keep the ball. You need to give the right pass at the right moment and we did not do that [before Chelsea scored]. Chelsea are a very good team and you play like we played and don’t reward yourself, it is frustrating.”
It was not the first time they failed to translate their domination into goals and victories and common-sense suggests it will not be the last. The fact that the last time they managed to win consecutive games in the Premier League was when they beat West Bromwich and Watford, in November, is a testament to their inconsistency and lack of composure when the team needed it the most, which is eventually going to cost them a place to play in the grandest of footballing stages next season.
