Caicedo wonder volley secures deserved point in 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford
By Paul Lagan at Old Trafford
Man Utd 1 v Chelsea 1
73,813
Moises Caicedo scored a wonder volley to secure a deserved point at Old Trafford this evening as the west Londoners went home with a 1-1 draw against Manchester United.
Liverpool won 't be quaking in their boots at the performances of either side as we enter a crucial stage in the Premier League.
Defeats can ruin any sense of achievement, and this encounter showed that in reality neither side deserved all three points.
Chelsea move into a heathy fourth in the league ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, while United languish in 13th place.
There were lots of attacking intent by both sides, but intent does not itself result in goals, and while the Blues can be happy with Caicedo's strike, they will be unhappy at Robert Sanchez who needlessly clipped the heels of Ramus Hojlund to concede a penalty.
Bruno Fernandes beautifully sent the goalkeeper the wrong was to open the score.
United had the lion's share of the ball in the opening exchanges, it was the visitors who looked to be closer to putting the ball in the back of the net.
They didn't but it showed Chelsea's fluidity in going forward compared to United's more laboured progression with the ball.
Several corners by the Blues emphasised their play and from one on 13 minutes saw Noni smack the ear post with a header.
A weak finish by Garnacho on 24 minutes saw a resurgence of United counter-attacks getting closer to breaking the deadlock.
But The Blues held firm.
Marc Cucurella replaced Malo Gusto at half-time, the only change.
The first goal effort of the second half fell to the west Londoners, when Pedro Neto let fly with a daisy-cutter, but his effort, across goal, inched wide of Andre Onana's left post on 54 minutes. Marcus Rashford had a shot on target, on 49 minutes, but it went straight into the midriff of Robert Sanchez.
United were given a penalty on 69 minutes when Rasmus Hojlund was clipped needlessly by Sanchez.
Up stepped Bruno Fernandes who sent Sanchez the wrong way to put the home side 1-0 up.
Maresca was preparing to bring on Enzo and Mykhailo Mudryk before the goal and completed the task. - off went Romeo Lavia and Noni.
But Chelsea kept on going and after Neto won another corner, Cole Palmer sent over a curling
cross, that was headed out straight to Caicedo on the edge of the United penalty area, and his wonderfully struck right=footed volley zipped in to the back of the United goal.
The home side went in search off a winner while Chelsea were content to pack it deep at the back, take the point and go home.
It got a bit feisty near the end, but handbags best describes the kerfuffle.
Teams: Man Utd: Onana, Mazraoul, De Ligt, Martinez, Fernandes, Hojlund, Rashford, Garnacho, Casimiro, Dalot, Ugarte
Subs: Bayindir, Lindelof, Zirkzee, Amad, Evans, Wheatley, Amass, Fletcher, Fitzgerald
Chelsea: Sanchez, Colwill, Neto, Noni, Jackson, Palmer, James, Caicedo, Fofana, Lavia
Subs: Jorgensen, Cucurella, Tosin, Badiashile, Enzo, Mudryk, Felix, Nkunku, Veiga
Referee: Robert Jones
Comments