X reacts to spiky 1-1 draw between Man Utd & Chelsea

Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

In the club’s first Premier League match since Erik ten Hag’s sacking, United limped into the lead via Bruno Fernandes’ 70th-minute penalty. Moises Caicedo struck back with an impressive volley, which represented one of the few moments of quality in a Premier League contest desperately lacking any cohesion or clarity.

What had promised to be an intriguing affair laced with individual battles all over the pitch fell flat in the first half. Arguably the most noteworthy moment of an opening 45 minutes which produced a grand total of two shots on target was the unlikely link-up between pop star Olivia Rodrigo and United’s club legend Denis Irwin.

Marcus Rashford crashed a volley off the crossbar in first-half stoppage time, but that was a rare moment of cut and thrust for a side supposedly unshackled by Ten Hag’s departure earlier this week.

At one point, United went 35 minutes of football without registering a single shot on target. Such an underwhelming offering on the pitch was reflected in the stands.

The Theatre of Dreams finally woke up midway through the second half. Rasmus Hojlund was afforded his first touch in Chelsea‘s box of the match, bringing down Casemiro’s lofted pass behind Wesley Fofana before taking his second just beyond Robert Sanchez.

Chelsea’s reckless goalkeeper missed the ball but got both gloves on Hojlund’s boot, ceding a penalty which Fernandes coolly converted.

While many lamented Sanchez’s needless lunge, others were drawn to the two figures hunched on the halfway line. Casemiro and Andre Onana couldn’t watch Fernandes’ spot kick, instead staring at each other before jumping up in reaction to the crowd’s roar.

That opening goal uncorked the contest. Within five minutes, Caicedo blasted Chelsea level, spanking a difficult dropping ball beyond Onana from the edge of the box.

There was almost an unsavoury conclusion to stoppage time as Lisandro Martinez crunched into a tackle on Cole Palmer. United’s front-foot centre-back appeared to catch the Chelsea forward on his knee, but the on-pitch official only awarded a yellow card – a decision which VAR agreed with and many people online didn’t.

Not everyone was quite so harsh.

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