Man United and Chelsea have spent nearly £2bn to get to this point… the paucity of their play shows how much money has been wasted, writes OLIVER HOLT after 1-1 draw at Old Trafford

 

It was a couple of minutes from the end when Cole Palmer flicked the ball beautifully over the head of Lisandro Martinez, the defender whose possession of a World Cup winner’s medal, disguises a player of modest talent and bad intentions.

As Palmer set off after the ball in search of a goal to win the game, the Argentina centre half raked his studs down Palmer’s thigh, just above his knee. After a VAR check, Martinez was shown a yellow card. It deserved a red.

Palmer, who had had a quiet game by his own four-goal standards, was able to continue but could barely walk by the time the final whistle blew soon after. He made a point of limping over to Martinez to shake his hand, muttered something to him and trudged away.

It was a sad vignette of a disappointing game, a 1-1 draw that offered much but delivered little. These two sides have spent approaching £2bn to get to this point. The paucity of much of their play was a sign of quite how much money has been wasted.

At least Chelsea, under the leadership of Enzo Maresca, appear to be heading in vaguely the right direction. They have an identity, they are improving, and in Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia they have midfielders who give them core solidity. In Palmer, they have a genius.

So it is an indictment of them that they could not beat a Manchester United team that has neither identity, nor soul and many of whose players do not seem to have discovered what hunger and desire mean even in the wake of the firing of their manager Erik ten Hag.

Chelsea have not won at Old Trafford since 2013 but, with United in between managers, this should have been the occasion they broke the hoodoo. They were probably just the better team but defeat would have been harsh on the home side and their supporters.

United are in a no man’s land now, knowing that Ruben Amorim will take over the team on November 11, but aware that he will be Sporting Lisbon’s coach when they play Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

So United are in the midst of yet another interregnum, yet another upheaval, yet another interruption, yet another reset, yet another penance for the sins of the past. Ruud van Nistelrooy is in charge of this one and he is doing a reasonable job but he cannot camouflage the problems that will greet the new man.

It is a strange situation that fits the incompetence that has undermined so much of what United have tried to do in the decade and more since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. They are treading water now until Amorim arrives.

This game, like so many others when Ten Hag was the manager, was lacking in quality. Bruno Fernandes was United’s best player, as he so often is, but United possessed neither the guile, nor the quality, nor the cutting edge to capitalise on his promptings.

Maresca has made a thoroughly impressive start at Chelsea, including having the clarity and the strength to pick Lavia and Caicedo as the two midfielders sitting in front of the back four even if that means leaving out Enzo Fernandez.

Lavia and Caicedo both started well and when Caicedo stole possession midway inside the United half inside the first ten minutes, he slid a neat pass into Palmer. Palmer ran at Matthijs de Ligt but De Ligt shepherded him well and blocked Palmer’s shot.

Chelsea came close again two minutes later when Noni Madueke rose at the near post and crashed a header from Palmer’s corner on to the upright. The ball rebounded to Levi Colwill but his snap shot found the side-netting. Colwill collapsed to the floor, claiming he had been kicked by Martinez as he took aim but nothing was given. 

United began to exert more influence as the half wore on. Bruno Fernandez shot high into the side-netting after Marcus Rashford’s cross had been pushed away by Robert Sanchez and then the Chelsea keeper saved from Alejandro Garnacho after Hojlund’s driven cross reached him at the back post.

Palmer had had an understated 45 minutes. Everything he did was stamped with class, every pass well considered but his influence had been limited. We were only given occasional glimpses of the extent of his talent but there was one moment that took the breath away.

Palmer took a ball from Reece James out near the touchline. He was off balance and maybe because of that, his touch with the instep of his left foot took both Rashford and Casemiro by surprise as Palmer played it between them. In an instant, Palmer was away, leaving both his opponents trailing. His run was only ended by a shove in the back from Manuel Ugarte as he neared the United area.

In the second minute of time added on at the end of the half, United should have scored. Fernandes floated a perfectly-flighted pass over James and into the path of Rashford ten yards out. Rashford met it on the volley but instead of drilling it into the ground and across Sanchez, he leaned back a little and his shot clipped the top of the crossbar on its way over.

United deserved to be level at the interval but it still felt as if Chelsea had another gear. It felt as if they were the better organised, more coherent side. And now and again, United’s familiar weaknesses betrayed themselves.

Ten minutes after the break, Martinez hooked an attempted clearance high into the sky and when it came down, a host of United players let it bounce and then allowed themselves to beaten to it by Palmer.

Palmer played it coolly out to Pedro Neto on the left and Neto ran at the United defence before unleashing a fierce left foot shot that flew just wide of Andre Onana’s left hand post.

United missed another golden opportunity to take the lead midway through the half when Fernandes escaped down the right and cut the ball back to Garnacho, who was unmarked ten yards out. Garnacho took a wild swing at the ball and miskicked it so that it floated gently into the hands of Sanchez.

A couple of minutes later, United won a penalty. This time, it was Casemiro’s turn to hit a superb long ball into the box. Wesley Fofana could not cut it out and it fell to Hojlund, who brought it down sweetly.

Hojlund took the ball around Sanchez and Sanchez dived at his feet and brought him down. Referee Robert Jones awarded a penalty, Hojlund celebrated wildly and Fernandes sent Sanchez the wrong way from the spot.

Van Nistelrooy ran down the touchline when the ball hit the back of the net and threw his arms up in triumph to the fans in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand and perhaps the men in the directors’ box who have chosen to overlook him for the permanent job here.

But United’s lead lasted only four minutes. Palmer swung a corner over from the Chelsea right and when Casemiro’s defensive header looped into the air, it fell to Caicedo on the edge of the box. Caicedo did not hesitate. His volley hurtled past Onana and arrowed just inside the post.

United tried to regain the ascendancy but they were undone by their profligacy and their attitude. When Garnacho lost the ball deep in Chelsea territory and did not bother to chase back, Casemiro fouled Neto to end the Chelsea threat and then turned to give Garnacho the kind of dressing down he may not forget for some time.

Garnacho almost redeemed himself with an attempt on goal that flew just too high and then Fernandes wasted a glorious chance to get the winner when he ballooned a shot high over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

It was another a symbol of a game sadly lacking in the quality that money should have bought it.