Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equalizer to save Manchester United’s third consecutive Premier League defeat in a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea on Thursday.
Ralf Rangnick’s side have lost their last two games against Liverpool and Arsenal in a total of 7-1 and, while working back to Old Trafford was not pleasant at all, they avoided further losses.
With the exception of a bad game in the first half when their stadium was usually open, United somehow reached the break without conceding anything, even though Chelsea won with Marcos Alonso an hour later.
But Ronaldo – who scored five of six goals in the Premier League this month – quickly regained his balance during the game and Thomas Tuchel’s men failed to take the lead.
Chelsea won the first half almost from start to finish, a short period of United pressure to get to the point where Ronaldo put the nearest bike on top.
Apart from that, United had to rely on Chelsea and David de Gea ‘s wasteful finish to maintain the point level, with the Spaniard severely blocking Kai Havertz’ attempt to score goals with his midfielder after the Blues drew on athletes easily.
Havertz closed the gap nine minutes before half-time, heading for Reece James’ ball to De Gea.
Little has changed since the rest of the season – except that Chelsea finally won the pressure after 60 minutes, as Alonso hit a volley in the lower-left corner of De Gea.
But few could have expected what happened just two minutes later, with Ronaldo holding on to Nemanja Matic’s goal and scoring the equalizer.
Chelsea may have secured a winner who should have been late, but James’ attempt to bend was cut short by post.
Leave a comment