Chelsea 2-2 Manchester United: 3 things we learned

Manchester United came from a goal down to take the lead against Chelsea, only to let it slip in the 96th minute. Here are three things we learned.

The Premier League returned from the international break in dramatic style on Saturday, as Manchester United and Chelsea played out a wild 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Here are three things we learned from the match.

Will the real Manchester United please stand up?

In the first half, United were dull, boring, functional and depressing. Chelsea looked comfortable and slick on the ball, and were good value for their lead.

The second half told a different story, however. United had their shackles removed, and attacked the spaces, pressing high and not allowing Chelsea any time on the ball.

Their first real bit of sustained attacking pressure led to the equalizer, courtesy of Anthony Martial, and after some more brilliant closing down and a sublime Juan Mata touch, United were a goal up and looked like they would go on to win the match.

United are a real Jekyll and Hyde team at the moment, and in the midst of all this chaos, results are starting to turn their way. They show two starkly different sides of their game, largely with the same players on the field, and questions have to be asked about just how long they can sustain such a strategy.

United’s squad is filled with an embarrassing number of top quality players, and despite Jose Mourinho’s grumblings in the press, any manager in the world would take a bench that included Ander Herrera and Alexis Sanchez.

When United take the game to their opponent, as they showed in against Newcastle and then against Chelsea, they’re a force to be reckon with.

They are transformed into a team that are ruthless and aggressive. Suddenly the giants that lumber around for them, stomp all over the pitch causing mayhem.

This is Manchester United. Dominant, aggressive, attacking and dynamic — every characteristic associated with Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams are brought to the forefront, and opponents are suddenly fearful.

United need to be playing like this a lot more, that much is certain, but with the way things have been going in the last few weeks, it’s going to be impossible to predict which Manchester United team will face Juventus midweek.

Chelsea weren’t at their slick best

After a first half where Chelsea dominated possession, scored one goal (and could have had more), and shackled United’s attacking threat with ease, it looked as if the game would finish in predictable fashion.

Chelsea would continue to do more of the same in the second half, sneak a second goal and close the match out with relative ease.

United made it easy for them, and Chelsea didn’t have to be at their best.

But when coming up against a drastically different United team in the second half, Chelsea sunk into a shell.

They couldn’t pass the ball around in the same manner they did in the first half thanks to United’s high press, and were instead shellshocked into conceding two goals. They hadn’t prepared for United going for the jugular.

United defended well, and stifled the likes of Eden Hazard and Jorginho, which prevented shots and forced Chelsea into finding different outlets. Instead, Chelsea were left flailing blindly down dark alleys, which in turn left them extremely vulnerable on the counter-attack.

In many ways, they’re lucky to come away with a point. On the balance of play it was probably a fair result, but Chelsea were nowhere close to their machine-like best.

Morata and Lukaku have a lot more to offer

Despite the vastly different styles of soccer that Chelsea and Manchester United have been playing this season, there’s a commonality that few would have expected.

Neither team’s striker has been at the races this season.

For Chelsea, Maurizio Sarri seems to prefer Olivier Giroud to Alvaro Morata. Sarri’s teams are built on short, quick passing and slick movement off the ball. This requires a striker to play the role of a false 9, as Dries Mertens did so well under Sarri at Napoli, and Giroud has built his career on his ability to hold the ball up and bring others in.

Morata seems to lack this quality, and his inability to do so has led a huge drop in his confidence. Sarri has done well in press conferences, talking up Morata’s capabilities, but there are rumors that Chelsea will drop Morata in January. 

Morata is a quality striker, as he showed during his time at Juventus and Real Madrid, but those teams’ style was more suited to his qualities, and Morata might have to call it a day at Chelsea to reinvigorate his career.

For Manchester United, Romelu Lukaku is nowhere as prolific as he is for his national side.

While Lukaku continues to bang in the goals for Belgium, he hasn’t score for United in seven games now.

For Belgium, Lukaku uses his presence to hold defenders off, and draw runners, which in turn allows him to turn and use his pace and direct running. At United, he is used more as a lone frontman, and is asked to do much more than he can. On paper, Lukaku ticks all the boxes of a striker that Mourinho’s teams need — tall, strong, able to bully defenders.

But Lukaku loses concentration constantly throughout a match, which causes him to be caught on his heels when an opportunity presents itself. He’s guilty of missing a lot of chances, and for a United side who are currently more clinical than prolific, Lukaku seems ill-suited.