Man United vs Chelsea: Ronaldo’s 17th goals helps United draw 1-1 against Blues

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 17th goal of the Premier League season to help draw 1-1 against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday.

It finishes level at Old Trafford.#MUFC | #MUNCHE

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 28, 2022

The visitors dominated the first half but were unable to break through De Gea, who saved goals from Kai Havertz and N’Golo Kante.

Midway through the second half, Chelsea finally broke the deadlock when Marcos Alonso volleyed home from an angle.

United reacted within a minute, with Nemanja Matic delivering a wonderful cross into the area for Cristiano Ronaldo to take a touch before thumping a shot into the net.

That jolted Old Trafford to life, as there had been a chilly atmosphere inside the stadium up to that point, while unhappiness with the club’s owners was still visible outside for the second home game in a row, with protests.

Ronaldo had a chance to give the hosts all three points, but Edouard Mendy stopped his effort from a tricky angle.

However, the game finished in a draw, as Chelsea moved closer to a top-four finish. With five games remaining, Thomas Tuchel’s side is in third place, eight points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham.

Manchester United sits in sixth place, five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal despite having played two more games.

Ronaldo to the rescue once again

Following last Saturday’s 3-1 setback at Arsenal, interim manager Ralf Rangnick pushed his team to complete the season as strongly as possible, but suggesting a top-four finish was “unrealistic.”

However, for the first hour of this game, it appeared as though that call had gone unheeded, as the home team turned forth yet another poor performance.

They were sluggish and lacked the drive that Chelsea’s players displayed, and the visitors should have been out of sight in the first half as they battered De Gea’s net with attempts.

Havertz, who burst through midway through the first half only to be denied by De Gea, then sent a close-range header straight at the goalie, was the best of those.

When Chelsea scored, it appeared that an away win was a foregone conclusion – but, for the second time this season, Ronaldo came to his team’s rescue.

Since his return to Old Trafford, his usefulness to the team has been questioned, but at the age of 37, he continues to defy the odds, as he climbed joint-second on the Premier League top scorers list with 17 goals.

It is to be noted that Ronaldo has so far scored 23 goals in the ongoing season; 17 in Premier League and 6 in UEFA Champions League.

Goal number 2️⃣3️⃣ of the season for @Cristiano 👏🔴#MUFC | #MUNCHE pic.twitter.com/j8dxwl5vqX

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— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 28, 2022

A missed opportunity for The Blues

Chelsea had won their previous eight games on the road in all competitions, and they’ll be wondering how they didn’t make it nine after this stalemate.

Taking chances has been a problem for the Blues all season, and despite De Gea’s outstanding performance, they will be disappointed that they were only able to score once.

In the end, it was a squandered opportunity for the visitors, but it shouldn’t detract from their prospects of finishing in the top four, as they only need seven points from their remaining five games to do so.

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