COOKING WITH CAS
Brazilian swoops to snatch point for Ten Hag with last-gasp header
IT HAD seemed in the dying moments of this game that its narrative would revolve around missed chances and that, most of all, it would revolve around The Man Who Wasn’t There.
Manchester United had squandered several opportunities and had gone a goal behind to a Chelsea penalty. The aggrieved fans of Cristiano Ronaldo, banished from the squad for his petulance, were queuing up to say how much he’d been missed.
But United and their manager, Erik ten Hag, deserved better than that. They had dominated swathes of this game and had looked more coherent and more accomplished than they ever have with Ronaldo in the side in his second coming at Old Trafford. Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes had been the best players on the pitch for much of the match. It did not feel right they should be on the losing side.
United refused to give up. Ten Hag must be given much of the credit for that, for building a sense of togetherness and collectivism at United that has not existed for some time, for banishing the individualism, for restoring team spirit. ‘We showed resilience,’ he said later. ‘That is what Casemiro, among others, is bringing into this team.’
So United kept pressing and finally, as time was running out, Casemiro rose highest in the box to loop a header over Kepa Arrizabalaga and in off the far post to secure the draw.
It was a creditable point for United against a Chelsea team still unbeaten under Graham Potter, an enthralling battle between two bright, clever, impressive coaches and teams who appear to have been reinvigorated by them.
Both teams had started brightly. Luke Shaw whistled a shot just wide, an Antony curler was well saved by Kepa and United were grateful to a fine sliding interception from Raphael Varane that snuffed out the danger posed by a fizzing cross from the Chelsea right. Fernandes worked hard to find space between the lines and picked and probed at the Chelsea back line.
United dominated possession but found it hard to make their pressure pay, though, and it was not until nearly half-an-hour had elapsed that Fernandes played Marcus Rashford in on goal and Kepa rushed out to smother his shot.
Rashford threatened again soon after. He ran at the retreating Thiago Silva and unleashed a dipping right-foot shot that Kepa dived to his right to push out.
Ten minutes before the break, Potter decided he had seen enough of his side struggling to get a foothold and made a change, replacing Marc Cucurella with Mateo Kovacic to try to redress the balance in midfield. Straight away, Chelsea forced their way back into the match.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang prodded a shot wide before half-time and Chelsea squandered another chance soon afterwards when Raheem Sterling failed to control the ball on the edge of the United area and played a difficult pass to Aubameyang, who could not control it.
The best chance of the half fell to United on the stroke of the interval.
Lisandro Martinez won a brave header inside the United half and it fell to Fernandes. He slid a precise pass into the path of Antony but with only Kepa to beat, Antony sliced his shot agonisingly wide of the goalkeeper’s left-hand upright.
The game was more even after the break. Aubameyang skipped past Varane and crossed deep for Sterling, who tried to lay the ball back for Mason Mount but left it short. Varane injured himself trying to tackle Aubameyang and seemed to hyper-extend his knee.
The France defender looked distraught as he was led down the touchline. Chelsea fans mocked him and were delighted when he gestured in response. Varane will be worried about his chances of making the World Cup next month.
The 29-year-old’s reaction suggested a possibly bleak outlook, but boss Ten Hag refused to be drawn too soon on the prognosis.
Asked about Varane, Ten Hag replied: ‘There’s nothing in this moment, he came off but with an injury like this you always have to wait a minimum of 24 hours and the medics can do their job.
‘I can understand, and I think we all probably can understand him being emotional.’
United pressed again and Christian Eriksen twice came close to setting Rashford free in the box with deft touches. Then Sterling darted between two United defenders as he burst into the box and fell under a challenge but referee Stuart Attwell waved away Chelsea’s enthusiastic appeals for a penalty.
Chelsea were building some momentum now. Trevoh Chalobah
climbed above Fred at a corner and looped a header over the outstretched glove of David de Gea, only to see the ball kiss the top of the bar on its way into touch.
Rashford was withdrawn with 10 minutes to go. On another evening, that might have been the cue for Cristiano. Not tonight.
Instead, it was left to a Chelsea substitute to play a crucial part in the outcome of the game. When Ben Chilwell swung over another Chelsea corner from the left, McTominay, a second-half substitute, wrestled with Armando Broja. He had both arms round his waist when Broja fell to the floor and Mr Attwell pointed to the spot.
It was hard to disagree with the penalty in isolation. The objection, of course, is that incidents like that happen in every game and often go unpunished. United’s players, predictably, were apoplectic. As Jorginho waited to take the penalty, Fernandes whispered earnestly in De Gea’s ear, presumably giving him tips on where Jorginho would place his kick.
It appears Jorginho is a bad tipper, from this evidence anyway. De Gea dived decisively to his right and Jorginho placed the penalty decisively to his left.
But it was not over. Deep into added time, United pumped a ball into the area and Casemiro and McTominay rose to meet it together. Casemiro got to it and his header looped across goal towards the far post. Kepa dived to try to save it and got a despairing hand to it. His touch diverted the ball onto the post but when it bounced down, replays showed it had just crossed the line.
Potter admitted that Kovacic, who was brought on in the first half, continues to carry a knee problem, leading the Blues to be careful with their Croatian creator.
‘The first 30 minutes United were better, they forced us back and we had to adjust to try to get another player in midfield,’ said Potter.
‘From that point, I thought we did well in the game, we’re disappointed of course to concede the equaliser but we didn’t do enough to win the game I don’t think.’