Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea: Five Things Learnt From the Old Trafford Stalemate

Robin van Persie salvaged a deserved point for Manchester United with a dramatic last minute equaliser against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday (26 October).

The striker's 94th minute goal sparked wild scenes from the United faithful and players alike while an indignant José Mourinho could only turn away in disgust.

The result put Chelsea four points clear at the top of the Premier League, and maintained the ten point advantage Mourinho holds over former mentor Louis van Gaal.

IBTimes UK looks at five things we learnt from the heavyweight clash.

Premier League in safe hands

Gary Neville rightly picked Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as his man of the match yesterday, but the Belgian's heroics were emulated by his opposite number, David de Gea. While the Chelsea shot stopper is the more orthodox of the pair, de Gea has defied critics after a wobbly start to his Old Trafford career to become one of van Gaal's stalwarts.

The former Atlético Madrid keepers are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the number of quality keepers plying their trade in the Premier League, with number 1s inclusing Joe Hart, Hugo Lloris, and Fraser Forster making the league the best protected in the world.

Juan Mata has missed his opportunity

Wayne Rooney's suspension handed Juan Mata the chance to prove he was United's chief architect, but against his former employers, the diminutive Spaniard failed his audition.

David Moyes' marque signing has never recaptured his dazzling Stamford Bridge form that earned him consecutive fans' player of the year awards, and when United needed a goal it was Mata who tellingly made way for youngster James Wilson.

Marouane Fellaini and Nemanja Matic add big match presence

Were it not for a training ground injury in August 2014 that scuppered his imminent transfer, Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini probably would have played in Napoli's 6-2 win over Verona yesterday. Instead, he went toe-to-toe with Chelsea's midfield colossus Nemanja Matic.

The Belgian midfielder has seemingly turned his Old Trafford career around with two starring performances in as many weeks, and his aggressive streak and prudence on the ball will be an important tool for van Gaal against physical sides.

Matic, on the other hand, has not been faced with the challenge of winning over his club's fans. The 6ft 4in Serbian is the perfect foil beloved of Mourinho whose presence brings discpline to a midfield with a propensity to attack.

Refereee Phil Dowd got it wrong

But not about Branislav Ivanovic. The full back's double yellow card was one of the easy decisions Dowd made on the day, but when it came to the game's big talking point, he got it wrong.

Chelsea should have had a penalty and United possibly reduced to nine men when Marcos Rojo and Chris Smalling respectively locked John Terry and Ivanovic in headlocks not out of place in WWE.

What made this injustice more galling was that Dowd was staring right at it. Mourinho was right to be aggrieved of the referee's performance.

United and Chelsea missed their talismen

All eyes were on the Chelsea team bus as it rolled into Old Trafford to see if the Premier League's top scorer would be leading the line for the league leaders. But Diego Costa failed to prove his fitness so it was left to 36-year-old Didier Drogba to show there is life left in the old Drog yet.

But while it is difficult to imagine anyone other then the Ivorian scoring the near post header that gave Chelsea the lead, United's defensive frailties would arguably had been better exposed by Costa.

Likewise, United were dealt a blow by Radamel Falcao's injury and despite van Persie's enterprising runs in the first half, the Dutchman appeared to be running out of steam in the second and needed support.