This time it turned out bright.

starting pressure

The match between Manchester United and Chelsea was divided into several logically completed and delineated segments, and moreover unequal. More obvious than others, it was possible to identify the starting segment, which lasted until about the 35th minute. It started slowly, but very quickly. Manchester Unitedwithin which the drama around Ronaldo does not seem to unfold, he picked up a rapid pace that Chelsea could not cope with.

The “Manchester” put pressure and dominated from all points of view, approaching the inevitable goal. That stretch ended with Chelsea’s six shots on goal against Manchester’s only one. And with ball possession under sixty percent. Just before the first substitution at Chelsea, the visitors had ten minutes of possession at 70%. Chelsea were simply stuck in the net and barely saved themselves from a goal.

Four times in this segment the Manchester players have hit the target, but Kepa showed himself perfectly. He somehow remembered the game against Tottenham, in which Manchester United He dominates strongly even in the first half, but manages to score only in the interval, missing many occasions mainly due to the performance of the opposing goalkeeper. Separately, of course, it’s worth mentioning Rashford and the chances he missed. Marcus could have made his team’s life a lot easier if he had handled his moments more wisely.

Timely solutions

We have to pay tribute to Graham Potter, who didn’t wait for a symbolic break or a problem in the form of an objective to rebuild the game. He left the three-back line-up and added a player in midfield, where Eriksen, Casemiro and Fernandes simply destroyed Chelsea, cutting out Mount, Sterling and Aubameyang, leaving them without the ball.

Already in the 36th minute, Potter removed Cucurella and released Kovacic to stabilize and materialize the center line. Mateo’s exit has also become something of a signal for Chelsea’s game to be more tough. By losing outright individual fights in the first half hour of play, the Londoners began to act more aggressively in those moments when players Manchester United they were more acute, compensated for this by their routine.

Potter decided in time to rebuild, until the account was opened. He may have saved Chelsea mid-game. Behind the Blues a classic four full-backs formed, in front of which Kovacic, Jorginho and Loftus-Cheek already held the central zone more confidently, starting to link defense and attack: the ball began to appear on Chelsea forwards.

But it should be noted that Eric ten Hag did not hesitate to organize the reconstruction before the rooster pecked. Although he acted a little more cautiously. This is understandable, since in the first part of the game his team dominated, and when the opponent leveled the situation, it took some time to take a closer look at which zone you can now find a boost.

After a very soft and even insinuating start to recovery, ten Hag quickly made his tactical reshuffle and released Fred in place of Sancho. He responded with his mid lane boost, adding power and pressure there, but without hindering Fernandes and Eriksen’s creative potential. The battle for midfield and control of the game continued.

Uncontrolled chaos

Interestingly, in the interval between Potter and ten Hag substitutions, the Blues already had more than 66 percent of the time, throwing three hits against two Manchester United. With the ten Hag reshuffle, control had returned to the feet of the Manchester players, but overall there was more confusion and chaos. The transfer accuracy of both teams in this segment dropped to almost 70%. This quality of ball work usually corresponds to the games of Russian strangers.

Yet it was interesting to witness this chaos, because everything happened at high speed, in a very dynamic and bright way. Anger and excitement somewhere have taken the place of composure and calculation, but the integrity of the matches and such characteristics can be characterized. True, under such conditions, a target could jump out of chaos in any direction. What is Chalob’s shot on the crossbar after De Gea’s corner.

Inspired by tactical combat, the coaches have set the game on a path where chance already plays a more significant role. In this segment, Varan has been replaced by Lindelof, but she is not among those tactics. It’s about Rafael’s injury. And judging by his tears, there could be something serious.

Final castling

After going through a period of chaos without consequences, the two coaches decided almost at the same time to put the finishing touches on the tense confusion of an equal fight, after making two substitutions. The introduction of new players should have tipped the scales in favor of one of the teams. Interestingly, the replacements eventually worked immediately, but the effect was different.

At the corner of the gate De Gea Fresco Broya embraced like a native and spread out on the lawn like Fresco McTominay. And the detente came in the form of a penalty kick, which Jorginho transformed. On the one hand, with such a bold and active substitution game, it would be nice to see the winner in the clash, whoever it was, on the other hand none of the teams deserved to lose in such a match.

But the audience deserved the drama. Therefore, in fact, in the last attack, Shaw’s canopy closed Casemiro in a spectacular way. Kepa – we have to pay tribute – in a desperate jump he almost swept the ball away, but he treacherously jumped a couple of centimeters over the goal line, flying out of the crossbar. The referee only with the help of an automatic goal fixing system determined the presence of him. A final like this was a worthy ending to a match so tense that it kept attention until the last match.

Numbers

The final statistical indicators leave a double impression. After all, if we take the match goal, we can say that Manchester have been saved. But he ended up having more possession, 53 percent of the time. Hit more often – 13 six-shot and 6: 2 on accurate shots. And it is a Manchester United there was a powerful trait of domination. Chelsea weren’t as pronounced. But Chelsea had the crossbar, for example, and the first goal. By the way, the teams failed to really increase the pass accuracy rate. He stayed with them in the region of 77-78, which is pretty low for such clubs.

Interestingly, this draw was already the fifth in a row among these rivals. Seven of the last nine meetings between them ended in a draw. And in total in the Premier League they have shared points 26 times. No other pair of teams come in so often Premier League did not play a draw.

At the same time, Chelsea can not beat Manchester United in the Premier League for ten games already (seven draws, three defeats). Only against Blackburn (12 games from 1992 to 1998) and Arsenal (19 games from 1995 to 2005) did the Blues have more unbeaten streaks in the tournament.

A separate history of relationships with Manchester United Sterling, who has played against this team more often than others, has already played 24 games in different clubs and in all tournaments. But he has never scored against Manchester, even though he has had 38 shots in these matches – 15 on goal.

Finally, Jorginho scored 19 of 22 Premier League penalties for Chelsea. Only Lampard has more penalties for the Blues Premier League – 41 pieces.