On Saturday afternoon in the English Premier League an intriguing first match of the 9th round took place.
Managed by Jose Mourinho, Manchester United arrived at the fortress of Chelsea in London. The dramatic ending of the match was determined by a sensational equalizer - Ross Barkley scored a goal in the final minutes of added time, causing a huge scuffle when one of Maurizio Sarri's assistants celebrated the goal in front of Mourinho, provoking the Portuguese to react.
The match started fairly gentlemanly - both teams did not make major mistakes, although Chelsea dominated possession of the ball. The events took a different turn when the hosts gained the advantage in the 21st minute.
After a pass from Willian, Antonio Rudiger broke free from Paul Pogba and without any interference, headed the ball into Man Utd's goal. David De Gea couldn't react to the German's shot and Chelsea took the lead.
In the second half, Man Utd managed to impose their style of play on Chelsea, exposing gaps in their defense. In the 55th minute, Anthony Martial equalized the score.
Chelsea immediately tried to retaliate and regain their advantage, but the attempt was unsuccessful - in the 73rd minute, A. Martial had plenty of time to adjust to the situation and with a clever shot put Kepa on the ground, leaving the Frenchman undefended - Man Utd took the lead 2-1.
During the remaining time, the "Red Devils" decided to hold back defensively. They managed to do this quite well for a long time, but in almost the last moments of the match Chelsea expanded from a corner kick with Ross Barkley appearing in the penalty area.
Chelsea kept pressing the opponents, A. Rudiger struck the crossbar, the ball fell conveniently to R. Barkley's feet and he directed it straight into the opponents' net from a few meters away. Chelsea managed to rescue a point and remain unbeaten in this season.
After the goal, there was a heated exchange on the Man Utd bench. One of M. Sarri's assistants acted disrespectfully towards Mourinho in celebration of the goal, prompting the Portuguese to react, but the stadium security and coaching staff intervened to prevent further action. Both the instigator of the incident and Mourinho could face FA fines.
Chelsea currently lead the table with 21 points, but they could be surpassed by both Liverpool and Man City. Man Utd remains in eighth place after the draw.
Result:
Chelsea 2 - 2 Man Utd
21' [1 - 0] A. Rudiger
55' [1 - 1] A. Martial
73' [1 - 2] A. Martial
90+6' [2 - 2] R. Barkley
League Table:
Starting Lineups:
Chelsea: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, David Luiz, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic, Willian, Hazard, Morata.
Man Utd: De Gea, Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Rashford, Martial, Lukaku.
