Goals: Manchester United—Persie 90'+4; Chelsea—Drogba 53'
Recap: Ninety minutes of inspired football saw Manchester United and Chelsea finish with a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Following a scoreless first half, the visitors rode the scoring form of timeless striker Didier Drogba. The 36-year-old opened his 2014 Premier League account with a clinical finish off a set-piece, polishing off Cesc Fabregas' cross with a glancing header. The match was destined to finish with a United defeat; however, a second yellow from Branislav Ivanovic set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Marouane Fellaini failed to deliver on his first attempt, but Robin van Persie found himself in the right place to smash home the rebound, ending the match in a fair draw.
Louis Van Gaal had a 5' 8" Rafael marking a 6' 2" Drogba? Yikes! #MUFC #CFC #MUFCvsCFC pic.twitter.com/MiDaIY6v5N
— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) October 26, 2014
Key Moment: Set-piece fundamentals. At 6'2" tall, Drogba has proven to be an aerial menace throughout his career. Louis van Gaal's tactic to mark such a set-piece danger was right-back Rafael. The Brazilian stands at a mere 5'8" tall. Even worse, Persie failed to properly guard his post, allowing the Ivory Coast international to power his finish home.
Man of the Match: Chelsea's Eden Hazard didn't impact the scoreline, but the 23-year-old proved to be a threat on the ball, finishing with seven successful take-ons.
Lesson Learned: Manchester United's title hopes are now over. The club entered the weekend 10 points behind Chelsea's pace. A draw allowed United to avoid further deficit, but it also failed to bring them closer to the league leaders. Enough football remains (29 matches), but Manchester United haven't shown enough quality football to indicate a change in destiny.
Up Next: Chelsea return home to host QPR on Nov. 1, while Manchester United face Manchester City in the Manchester Derby on Nov. 2.
Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (via WhoScored).
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