A RON-MAN SHOW

Cristiano shows yet again he is on different level to United’s flops

IF they have a shred of class upstairs at Old Trafford, there will be no Player of the Year shenanigans this season.

But if they really want to hand out an award, don’t pretend it is a competition. Say thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo and move on.

In this dismal Manchester United performance, there was one moment of class.

And to no one’s shock, it came from Ronaldo, and it brought a point that could not have been any less deserved. Quite how

Chelsea contrived to take something other than a win out of this match is anyone’s guess.

But for United to be so inferior in their own home still tells its own grim story.

And even if you are not a fan of statistics as a measurement of footballing prowess, there is one that sums up United’s season.

Only Illan Meslier, of Leeds United, has made more Premier League saves than David De Gea this term.

Well played, David, but terribly played, United.

Ahead of this match, De Gea had made 116 saves… and it was plenty more by the end of this (keeping out Timo Werner, below).

No wonder De Gea recently admitted he was “embarrassed’ by this United campaign.

It has come to the stage where expectations surrounding this Red Devils team are so low that barely an eyebrow is raised when they begin a contest so ponderously.

And had De Gea not insisted on adding to his tally of saves,

Chelsea would have been comfortably in the driving seat within half an hour.

But Thomas Tuchel’s side only had themselves to blame, making the keeper’s tasks less challenging than they should have been.

Kai Havertz was clean through and De Gea was on his way to ground, but the German striker unerringly picked out a bullseye on the keeper’s chest.

Tuchel threw an appropriate tantrum, knowing that United were there for the taking… again. And the main target of Tuchel’s frustrations was Havertz, who wasted another good opportunity by sending a free header into a different part of De Gea’s anatomy.

What Ralf Rangnick said at half-time – other than, “I’m off to coach Austria, lads, that’s easier, see ya” – is anyone’s guess.

Whatever he said did not appear to make much of a difference, although at least Havertz remained on-message, wasting another breach of United’s backline by choosing

the wrong pass. As for his own players, they were just going through the motions, as they have been doing in 2022.

That they did not concede until around the hour mark was a minor miracle, although there was no shame in De Gea being only able to watch Marcos Alonso’s volley zip past him (right).

Then, as so often, from nowhere, came Ronaldo, running on to a clever Nemanja Matic flick and applying a thunderous finish.

It was the only bright spot in a dark United display. Chelsea quickly resumed control and should have won the game, but the outstanding Reece James hit a post with his fine effort, and also sent over a cross that was inches from Romelu Lukaku’s right boot.

The Reds actually had a bit of a crack at creating a winning chance in added time – and

THAT would have been funny. Instead, no one was amused.

Not Tuchel, not Rangnick, and not anyone inside Old Trafford, who has had to watch this dross for so much of the season.