Voice of London

Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United in a match in the thirteenth round of the 2021-2022 Premier League season on November 28th, despite having the overwhelming advantage at home.

This season, Chelsea are in full swing under the guidance of manager Tuchel, and are on a high in all competitions: top of the Premier League, ahead of the Champions League group stage, and in the last eight of the English League Cup. Chelsea will be aiming to win all three points at home against Manchester United, who are in 10th place in the league.

For United, interim manager Carrick made changes to the starting line-up for the match, with Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a goal in the Champions League in midweek, on the bench, and Sancho and Rashford up front.

Chelsea started the game with a fierce attack on United. In the second minute, Chelsea striker Ziyech received a pass from a teammate in the left side of the box, turned away from the defence and fired a shot which United’s goalkeeper de Gea was able to save. a minute later, Chelsea continued to attack from the left side, Odoi burst into the box, evaded Lindelof’s defence and pushed a shot into the far corner of the goal, which de Gea was able to block with his legs.

In the 18th minute, Odoi drove the ball down the left and passed it back to Ziyech in the middle, who met it with a shot just over the bar.

In the 31st minute it was Odoi again with a similar attack from the left, which was played back to centre-back Rüdiger in front of the box. In the 35th minute, Odoi took the ball through the middle into the United penalty area and was unable to get a shot off before the defenders interfered and De Gea was able to easily confiscate the ball.

Chelsea, who had been unable to attack for a long time, gave United a big gift shortly after the start of the second half. In the 49th minute, Chelsea’s attack was cleared by a big kick into the Chelsea half. Jorginho, who was at the end of the Chelsea defence, missed a high ball and a fast-moving United striker, Sancho, cut the ball off and drove the ball forward to form a one-two. Facing goalkeeper Mendy, he calmly pushed the ball into the back of the net to give United the lead after a very passive game.

After conceding the goal, Chelsea continued to intensify their attack. In the 57th minute, Chelsea took a corner kick and Silva fought for the ball and it fell to Silva who was unmarked at the back post. In the 63rd minute, United made a change with Ronaldo coming on as a substitute and Sancho, who had scored the goal, was substituted.

In the 66th minute, Chelsea were awarded another corner kick when United defender Wan-Bissaka kicked down Chelsea defender Silva in the box. Jorginho took the penalty and dummied De Gea to score the equaliser.

In the 87th minute, Chelsea goalkeeper Mendy misplaced a pass and sent the ball directly to the feet of Manchester United’s Fred, who had a 3 on 2 advantage in front of goal. Fred did not pass the ball to his teammate who was in a better position, but chose to shoot directly, but the shot was not threatening and was held by Mendy.

In the 96th minute, Chelsea attacked from the right and Pulisic crossed the ball in front of the box and Rüdiger, who was unmarked in front of the box, fired the ball over the bar. The two teams drew 1:1.

But statistically, still Chelsea dominated the game: 66% possession to 34% and 24-3 shots on target, and United ended their two-game losing streak in the Premier League with this hard-earned draw. Chelsea’s deficit to second-placed Manchester City was reduced to one point after this match.

Words by Huaisheng Gao，subbed by Katie Bird