This Blue hoodoo is something to rue, Tu

REDEMPTION for Jorginho, despite the master frustrating the apprentice.

Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side dominated this contest so completely at times you felt like throwing another ball on for Manchester United to play with.

So when Tuchel’s mentor Ralf Rangnick, pulling strings from afar, looked set to inspire victory against the odds, daylight robbery would not have come close to describing it.

Ballon D’OR nominee Jorginho, whose error had created that possibility, ended it from the spot but, for Chelsea, United really do represent a hoodoo, don’t they?

The league leaders, so slick, so fluid, so superior, were held by a side so leaky they cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.

That’s no win in eight games now for Chelsea against the Reds in the Premier League. The last time they were victorious, Alvaro Morata kept the points in London in November 2017.

Poor Jorginho cancelled out his error which allowed Jadon Sancho to score by netting from the spot (top) after Aaron Wan-bissaka had upended Thiago Silva. At that point Chelsea looked certain to put the United jinx to bed. It looked a matter of when. Not so.

In fact, when Antonio Rudiger, completely unmarked, smashed a backpost volley over the bar in next-goal-wins-it time, Tuchel slumped to his knees in disbelief. Sometimes the force really is against you.

Rudiger had earlier forced a save from David De Gea (left) with a drive of such ferocity that the Spaniard had to nurse the right arm he’d tipped the ball against the bar with.

Either side of that effort, Callum Hudsonodoi, Hakim Ziyech, Marcos Alonso and Timo Werner all rained in shots, with United, in the top 10 by a single point, under siege.

In total Chelsea finished with 24 attempts on goal compared to just three for Manchester United, and 15 corners to only two for the side marshalled by Michael Carrick.

United will have seen here the standard they need to reach under Rangnick. Chelsea saw their lead at the top cut to just a point.

They are so much better than United – they just can’t make it tell when they play each other.