Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea: De Gea and Courtois shine in Old Trafford stalemate

Posted Tuesday, December 29, 2015 by Goal.com

Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea: De Gea and Courtois shine in Old Trafford stalemate
In-form goalkeepers and the woodwork prevented goals in an entertaining game but is the result enough to ease the pressure on beleaguered home manager Louis van Gaal?

Goalkeepers were the stars of the show as Manchester United and Chelsea drew 0-0 in the Premier League on Monday evening.

The hosts, with manager Louis van Gaal under similar pressure to that which recently saw Guus Hiddink replace Jose Mourinho in the Blues' dugout, hit the woodwork through Juan Mata and Anthony Martial in the first half but had to rely upon David de Gea for some superb saves.

Thibaut Courtois similarly had to step up as Old Trafford enjoyed an exhibition of reflexes between the posts but Chelsea arguably had the best chance to win when Nemanja Matic squandered a threatening counterattack in the second period.

With Eden Hazard nominally the visitors' attacking spearhead in the absences of all their recognised centre-forwards, Chelsea lacked the possession to carve out regular opportunities of similar quality and United might have claimed the win in the 86th minute when Wayne Rooney - restored to the starting XI - could not control a fizzing cross from Cameron Borthwick-Jackson at close range.

Mata was inches away from giving United an ideal start against his old club as he rattled the crossbar in the third minute with a fierce half-volley from just inside the area.

De Gea reacted superbly to tip Terry's header over the top from a Willian corner but the woodwork came to Chelsea's rescue again when Martial cut in and hit the inside of the near post with a low drive.

United were comfortably in charge and Courtois was called into action again in the 28th minute to tip the recalled Rooney's drive from 25 yards over the crossbar but it was De Gea who made the next key stop with a brilliant double-save to deny Pedro and then Cesar Azpilicueta on the follow-up just after half-time.

Martial continued to give Branislav Ivanovic a torrid time and another surging run saw him cross for Herrera in the six-yard box but Courtois reacted superbly to block his effort and claw the ball away from the line.

United were on top but Matic spurned a glorious chance on the counter-attack to give Chelsea the lead as he blazed over with only De Gea to beat after being played clean through by Pedro.

With the pace of the game ebbing away, United threw on Memphis Depay to increase the pace in attack as they pushed to seal a first win since their visit to Watford on November 21.

And they could have snatched it late on, Rooney wastefully volleying over at the far post after a fine cross from substitute Borthwick-Jackson, but had to instead settle for avoiding a fifth consecutive defeat.