Manchester United versus Chelsea often features drama, but it was the tactical battle between Erik ten Hag and Graham Potter that made up the bulk of the match.
Within 15 minutes, the game had essentially become a rather hectic battle between two spirited midfielders, with United doing a much better job of finding space.
Ruben Loftus Cheek and Jorginho certainly tried to press hard, but they often found that Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro worked well together to always have a spare man.
One might have expected Mason Mount to drop into Chelsea’s midfield to help, given that he has the skill set to do so. However, with an elderly César Azpilicueta playing the role of full-back, the Englishman had apparently been instructed to help create width on The Blues’ right flank.
Casemiro was the most released due to United’s numerical superiority and often had time to choose a pass. The Brazilian also has a tendency to play as a striker at almost every opportunity, which was a real problem for Chelsea from the start.
United really should have made more of their success by winning the midfield battle early in the match, but both Jadon Sancho and Antony struggled to create chances, often turning down one-on-one chances – in Antony’s case in particular, chances to Cross. .
After about half an hour, Potter switched from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2, with Mount now following Casemiro down the field. It was surprising that the change came so late in the game, as Chelsea’s new manager is rarely shy about an early change of form.
However, he proved it, just five minutes later. That was all the time it took for it to become clear that Chelsea’s flanks were now exposed, with Rashford nearly opening the scoring. Matteo Kovacic came on for Marc Cucurella, and the short-lived 3-5-2 turned into a 4-3-1-2.
In all of this, United still largely remained on top, essentially as Chelsea filled a gap somewhere, another popped up somewhere else. The next mole to escape Potter’s hammer this time was Antony, who should have put United ahead just before the half-time whistle. The Brazilian found a gap between Ben Chillwell and Thiago Silva to make infrequent use of his right foot. The shot went wide, and Antonio showed why he rarely uses the weaker side of him.
Ten Hag would certainly be forgiven for wondering how his team didn’t come into halftime a couple of goals ahead. In the second half, the task was to avoid regret.
Chelsea came out quicker after the break, with a few wasted passes contributing to an early spell of dominance for the Blues. Now was Ten Hag’s chance to move fast and play, turning to Fred instead of Sancho to bolster United’s midfield.
Fred joined Casemiro on a double pivot with Eriksen up front, while Fernandes took up a nominal position on the left flank, often moving to the inside of the pitch to offer an option to play through the middle. Both coaches had now packed their midfield as much as humanly possible.
The fast-paced, open-ended nature of the game dissipated as a result, and the match is now more or less a matter of attrition. It was United who seemed to struggle with this brief, losing control of the game and becoming susceptible to quick counter-attacks. Aubameyang’s substitution for the quick Christian Pulisic in the 73rd minute for Chelsea suggested that Potter intended to do more of these.
Bruno Fernandes apparently grew frustrated with the intermittent nature of the game and resorted to hopeful long shots, while Antony sliced ​​an isolated figure down the right, and Rashford did not have the earlier joy he had found attacking Chelsea’s central defenders. United seemed dull.
Erik ten Hag’s last roll of the dice was taking out Rashford and Eriksen, with Anthony Elanga and Scott McTominay coming in. United now matched Chelsea’s 4-3-1-2, with the ‘3’ made up of three players little known for their creativity.
Casemiro, Fred and McTominay are known for getting the ball back. He immediately set out to make it high up the field, looking to force an error from behind Barca. Unfortunately, the plan backfired, leading to an attack in which Chelsea won a corner.
The corner came four minutes after McTominay entered the field and scored with a clumsy grab at Broja, committing the near-fatal penalty. With no changes to make and hardly any creativity on the pitch, United seemed to have little hope of a draw.
But Manchester United have a history of enthusiastic football, and Casemiro embraced that history, along with his team-mates, piling into the opponent’s box and scoring crosses. A dramatic late equalizer saw the end of an unknown managerial battle on a familiar scoreline between these two Premier League rivals.
