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Men’s football Chelsea’s Jorginho earns redemption in absorbing 1-1 draw against Man Utd

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United
by Layth Yousif at Stamford Bridge

CHELSEA and Manchester United played out an absorbing 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon in a match that saw Blues captain Jorginho earn redemption.

The Brazilian-born Italian international’s unforced second half error led to Jadon Sancho striding through to put caretaker Michael Carrick’s organised United side ahead five minutes after the interval.

Despite Thomas Tuchel’s side dominating the match, the visitors were compact and obdurate with a fluid 4-3-3 system that morphed into a 4-5-1 formation when out of possession, blunting the Blues’ wing-backs Reece James and Marcos Alonso who have been outstanding this season in a preferred 3-4-3 deployment.

The pivotal moment came when referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty after Aaron Wan-Bissaka fouled Thiago Silva, allowing Tuchel’s Blues a lifeline when the game exploded into life after the interval.

Despite his glaring mistake, Jorginho, the 29-year-old who captained Chelsea to the Champions League trophy last season and played his part in Italy winning the European Championships at Wembley this summer, displayed courage and character to slot home his penalty to level in a match which entertained and frustrated the 40,041 crowd in equal measure.

With all eyes on the former Napoli defender who joined Chelsea in 2018, Jorginho sent keeper David de Gea the wrong way to ensure the league leaders grabbed a point on 69 minutes to make it two draws and eight wins in their last 10 matches — when it appeared the Red Devils would emerge unlikely winners on a freezing day in West London.

“It’s hard to imagine this as a match where you can lose or drop points, because we were the better team who set the rhythm and intensity,” insisted Tuchel afterwards, adding: “We’re disappointed but we have no regrets, this can happen in football. I just told the team I’m happy with our performance and the way we played.”

Naturally Carrick had a different viewpoint, saying: “I don’t think it was a penalty at all. They have had a lot of shots. David had two saves, which we knew before the game he would have to make one or two. Other than that I have felt quite comfortable in the game. 

“To come away disappointed and to feel like you have left something out there is a positive.”

The hard-earned point saw the Blues maintain their position at the top of the table, one point ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and two points ahead of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in what will be an enthralling three-horse race over the coming months.

Despite heavyweights Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku named on their respective benches – with Carrick insisting it was his decision alone to drop the 36-year-old – and despite N’Golo Kane missing for the Premier League leaders, Chelsea dominated a frenetic opening, underscored with an excellent atmosphere created by both sets of fans as the thunderous background soundtrack.

It was instructive to hear the vociferous United travelling support acclaim Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s name, although, it has to be said, in the form of an old ditty in praise of the player, not the manager.

Given that stand-in Carrick’s United won their vital Champions League clash at Villarreal and have now gained a point at the league leaders, perhaps their travelling choir should have chorused his name too.

As it is, they will have an opportunity to hail their new man against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Thursday evening, should charismatic German Ralf Rangnick obtain his work permit in time.

Yet it was the team led by Tuchel, one of Rangnick’s disciples, that could have gone in front as early as 180 seconds into the match. Callum Hudson Odoi had an excellent chance to put the Blues ahead, after Victor Lidelof failed to cut out the 21-year-old attacker, but the outside of de Gea’s left boot saved United from close range.

Hakim Ziyech lifted a curling shot over the bar on 17 minutes, prior to United parrying with Bruno Fernandes steering a long-range effort wide.

It would have been interesting to note incoming manager Rangnick’s take on such a profligate waste of possession. As it was, Carrick was none too impressed from his position on the touchline.

Chelsea continued to dominate proceedings, underlined by the impressive Reece James firing a shot across goal.

On the half-hour mark defensive lynchpin Antonio Rudiger, moments after a clattering challenge involving the equally durable Nemanja Matic, unleashed a piledriver that observers are still unclear whether de Gea tipped onto the bar. 

Hudson Odoi then tested the busy 31-year-old netminder, with the Spaniard’s full length dive preventing a goal, following Fernandes recklessly playing the ball across the edge of the area. There was still time for the former Atletico Madrid keeper to tip away James’s free-kick which evaded a crowded box shortly before half time.

Five minutes after the break, Marcus Rashford went into Taylor’s book after he hacked down Trevor Chalobah.

However, from the resultant free-kick Fernandes hoofed away, only for Jorginho to miscontrol when being far too casual in attempting to control the high ball. His lapse allowed Sancho to run through and feint before calmly slotting past Blues keeper Edouard Mendy to put United 1-0 up.

The goal saw celebrations in front of the away fans, as the team and fans united in deep joy. Their delight was in stark contrast to Jorginho, who could only bow his head in disappointment at his embarrassing blunder.

The stage was set for Ronaldo, who replaced Sancho with 25 minutes remaining. Yet, his introduction wasn’t what was hoped, for only two minutes later Chelsea were awarded a penalty.

Referee Taylor had no choice but to award a spot-kick after Aaron Wan-Bissaka kicked Thiago Silva on the back of his achilles when attempting to clear the ball, felling the experienced defender.

After scuffles and heated debate among many of the players, Jorginho stepped up to slot home to make the score 1-1 and ramp up the temperature on a chilly west London afternoon to fever pitch.  

Despite a number of substitutions in the closing stages, including the leviathan Romelu Lukaku, neither side could break the deadlock as frustrations rose, with Ronaldo and Tuchel picking up yellow cards in separate incidents late on, the latter incandescent after an offside decision went against his team. 

As the clock ticked down — in the seventh minute of five minutes’ added time — Rudiger’s last-gasp volley flew over the bar with the defender in space, the missed chance leading to Tuchel dropping to the ground in frustration. It was no wonder, with 24 attempts on goal in total from his side, compared to United’s three.

As a snow flurry broke out at the final whistle moments later, Chelsea’s boss could have been forgiven for feeling less than festive, even if his captain Jorginho may have been secretly relieved at his redemptive penalty to secure a share of the spoils.

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