Manchester United - Chelsea: A physical, rainy, foul-filled fight between Manchester United and Chelsea ended nil-nil and not without help from VAR on Saturday at Old Trafford.
Christian Pulisic was injured but played on in the draw, as USMNT supporters will keep a close eye on the post-match press conferences.
Frank Lampard’s first scoreless draw as Chelsea boss didn’t come for over a year. His second came just four days after the first, a 0-0 with Sevilla in the Champions League.
[ MORE: Pulisic Watch v Manchester United ]
Chelsea is now 2W-3D-1L on the season, dropping points four times. United drops points for the third time in five matches to hold a 2W-1D-2L mark.
Manchester United - Chelsea was anything but delightful, though Edouard Mendy had a fine outing between the sticks for Chelsea and there will be much debate over an odd non-call against Harry Maguire.
Three things we learned from Manchester United - Chelsea
1. VAR, what? Harry Maguire cleared a cross into the box late in the second half, no big deal right? Well, replays showed that the big-headed defender lost position to Cesar Azpilicueta and put the Spaniard in a bear hug while leaping to clear the danger. Somehow, VAR did not review the call or did and saw nothing. Baffling.
2. Ole follows Mourinho playbook: This looked an awful lot like a Jose Mourinho-led Manchester United side, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer kept Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek, Mason Greenwood, and Edinson Cavani on the bench in favor of Fred, Scott McTominay, and Daniel James. United sacrificed possession and hoped to hit on the counter, at least until Solskjaer saw that Chelsea had hold of the game early in the second half and deployed Pogba. United had a lot of the ball after that and might’ve otherwise claimed a result if not for...
3. Mendy the hero: A dicey early second-half pass aside, Mendy was quite good. His distribution will be the question going forward, pun-intended, but his shot-stopping remains strong. And his stoppage-time two-handed parry of Rashford’s venomous shot was wonderful.
Man of the Match
Mendy
Manchester United - Chelsea recap
It was all Chelsea in the first 24 minutes, when United won a corner that the Blues handled well.
Ben Chilwell spotted Kai Havertz in the 25th, the German taking the ball out of the sky and slipping through Timo Werner only for the receiver to come within inches if contact.
Christian Pulisic danced past Scott McTominay to create space for a shot but swung it right to a stooping David De Gea in the 33rd minute.
The American then lifted the ball from Fred and drove the right side for a shot that bounded wide of the far post.
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United got a rare chance through Marcus Rashford after a Jorginho error, but the Englishman’s shot was saved by Edouard Mendy.
Harry Maguire somehow got away with a bearhug on Cesar Azpilicueta moments before Mendy was called upon to make a fine save on Juan Mata.
Reece James and Paul Pogba collided in the 63rd minute but both continued after treatment on the pitch.
United found possession for much of the rest of the match, and Chelsea saw a limping Pulisic withdrawn minutes after a hard challenge from McTominay.