The scenes of Manchester United players and fans celebrating Casemiro's last minute headed equaliser against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge brought back memories of the Old Manchester United, who never give up until the final whistle.
Saturday's late kick off between Chelsea and Manchester United at the Stamford Bridge showcased one of the most memorable tactical battles so far this season. It was pure joy to watch two managers trying their best to outdo each other through various in game tactical changes or through substitutions. This was an equivalent of chess potrayed as football.
United started on the front foot, clearly prepared to exploit the gaps behind Chelsea's midfield four and isolate the three centre backs with their skilled pacy attack and it was working. United's press was intense, the work rate outstanding. Potter had to do something, his midfield was being easily bypassed. So, he did the unthinkable and made a first half substitution, bringing out Cucurella a centre back, for Kovacic, a box to box midfielder. Suddenly Chelsea gained control, they reverted to a back 4, out numbering United's front 3 and playing man to man in the middle. Great recovery from Potter to regain control.
The game was played at a fast pace and United showed a sense of urgency we haven't seen in ages of taking the game to their opponents instead of playing on a counter. Chelsea's goalkeeper Kepa Arizzibalaga was called into action plenty of times throughout the game and will feel hard done to not have kept a clean sheet through his heroic displays. As much as United were brilliant at times, there's still room for improvement and had Chelsea a more effective striker than Aubameyang, then they could have been punished for their lapses at the back. United couldn't maintain the tempo of the first half and were forced into substitutions either through fatigue or to add another dimension to their play. In their efforts to sure up the midfield, which Chelsea was dominating since the introduction of Kovacic, Ten Hag threw in Scott MacTomminay who later went on to foul Armando Broja in the 86th minute resulting in a Chelsea penalty. Jorginho converted and when Chelsea felt they had done enough to seal the three points, Casemiro's late header rebounded off the post before marginally crossing the line in dramatic fashion.
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