Earlier today Chelsea faced Man united in the premier league. The clash is usually one of the matches everyone wants to watch especially here in Nigeria where both clubs' fans have formed a sort of rivalry. But recently it's not been as enthralling as it always seems to find a way to end as a draw irrespective of form. The last four meetings before today all ended In a draw, but upon that, I was hopeful that that would end today.
The match started and Manchester United was dominating. They constantly put pressure on Chelsea, and It looked like they might have taken the lead as they had some good chances to score, but they squandered them. Most notably the ones by Marcus Rashford which was saved by Kepa, and a bad miss by Anthony with his weaker foot.
Graham Potter was quick to realize his tactics weren't working (something I love about him by the way) and he had to bring on Kovacic for Cucurella as early as the 35th minute. From that moment onwards the pendulum began to swing in Chelsea's favor and Manchester United didn't have any significant attack all through the rest of the first half
The second half pretty much continued where the first half left off. Chelsea started holding the ball more, and United had to play on the counter. But as is the norm with Chelsea nowadays they couldn't find the final pass, and Kudos to Man United defenders who did a good job making it harder for them.
The longer the game went on the more frustrating the game was to watch because it looked like It would end as a draw once. As a Chelsea fan, it was starting to look like another Nil-Nil draw
But then, in the 87th minute, Mctominay who was just brought off the bench gave away a reckless penalty. Jorginho calmly converted the penalty with ease and it looked like we'd finally not draw against Manchester United. But then as a Chelsea fan, you know not to trust these players to grind out such results. Somehow in the 90+6 minute (heartbreaking fashion), Casimero nods the ball, and Kepa who's been spectacular these last few weeks gets a hand to it, but it only ends up hitting the inside of the post and just about crossing the line for a United equalizer.
Yet another draw against United. 5 draws In a row. I thought the introduction of Potter who has had a good start to life as Chelsea's manager would help, but It just wasn't enough. It seems no matter the difference In form Chelsea just can't seem to beat united. It's Crazy to think the last time we beat United was 2020, and If we're only considering the premier league then we'd have to go as far as 2018.
I'm not going to criticize the players (except Sterling who was frustrating to watch) as Man United are a good team when they're playing against other top teams. They've played all the big 5 top teams and they've beaten Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham this Season. Meaning only us and City have taken points from them among the big clubs. Though they seem to have problems facing smaller clubs and that's where they lose a lot of points.
One thing I however will criticize is their ability to string great attacks. Right from when Tuchel was boss this was the problem, and till now this is still the problem. It's really annoying, In the past we could defend them for not having played together much, but now there's been enough time. And even with change of managers the attacking system is more of the same, so they should be a relative understanding, atleast among players like mount, Havertz, and the midfielders who've been together a while. Oh well, as fans we can only watch and hope that there's an Improvement under Potter.
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Potter did a great job bringing off Cuccrella for Kovacic and then switching to a back 4. It changed the game in the middle of the park for Chelsea. That Anthony chance was towards te end of the first half and I still can’t understand how he did not score, of what use are both legs if they cannot score simple goals?
Kepa has really amazed me and now I am certain he fully deserves to be starting over mendy. United Vs Chelsea have become a boring game nowadays and I don’t get excited about it anymore.
Kepa has been great the last few games and definitely deserves to start ahead of Mendy. Seems he's potter's preferred keeper.
I've also felt a drop in my excitement whenever we play Man U recently. It's been boring lately.
Today's match was what I called survival of the fittest..both team played well
Hehe, I wouldn't say any of them played well to be honest.
Chelsea played poorly and again found a hero in Kepa to keep them alive.
The Spanish goalkeeper made up to 6 saves in the entire match, 5 of those in the first half. I didn't like the attacking trident because it was very disorganized and the entrance of Kovačić in the first half gave balance in defense, but in offense nothing.
Yeah, both teams, were actually poor, but Man U created the better chances (particularly in the first half) Chelsea just hold the ball and find it difficult to create great chances.
I think overall, the game turned out way below expectation. It's fair to say the game only kicked off in the final quarter of the game.
Both teams struggled to create anything meaningful.
Potter has still started fairly, yet to lose a game. He'd need time to take Chelsea back to their best. He also needs a striker. Not sure Aubameyang is his go-to option.
Yeah, these days Man u vs Chelsea is a boring game.
At the moment one can't even say Chelsea's lack of goals is because they don't have a striker. It just feels as if they are usually not on the same page attacking wise, which is why strikers have been known to suffer at Chelsea (in recent times). I feel if they can sort it out, Aubameyang will get a decent amount of goals.
!PIZZA
They really need to sort that striker issue. Let's see how it goes with Rafael Leao and Christopher Nkunku in the offing.
I think that this year is very leveled and that no team will dominate, except Man City. I would not worry too much about Chesea's performance at the moment. What counts is April and May :)
It's best they perform atleast decently now so that they can atleast cement a top four place (since they can't challenge for the title) early on to be able to focus on cup games where they stand a higher chance of winning.
I gifted $PIZZA slices here:
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United was the better team and deserved to win the match, I don't think Chelsea is back yet but let's see how it goes on.
Chelsea Is definitely not back, but I don't think either team played well enough to deserve to win that match
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