Aveek Chaudhuri, February 28, 2021

On Sunday, Manchester United and Chelsea settled their match up with a 0-0 draw. A rather disappointing end to a game that was anticipated to be at least a bit entertaining. Neither side produced enough to score and win all three points which will undoubtedly leave both Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Thomas Tuchel feeling that their teams could have done more. The only real highlights of the game were when Manchester United had a penalty denied by the referee after a Callum Hudson-Odoi handball and when Hakim Ziyech had a clear shot blocked by David de Gea.

Statistically, both teams were practically equal. Chelsea fired 18 shots in total with 6 on target. In comparison, Manchester United had 11 shots with 4 on target. With possession, Chelsea had more of the ball with 58% compared to the Red Devil's 42%. However, at the end of the day, neither side came close to breaking the deadlock as the chances created were simply poor. The only real chance in the game came when Hakim Ziyech had a strong chance to score off a well placed ball by Ben Chilwell but his first-time shot went right at de Gea who nicely saved it. Other than that, the game was destined to end 0-0.

This result sees Manchester United stay at 2nd place in the Premier League, now one point above third-place Leiscter City who lost earlier 1-3 to Arsenal. Manchester United remain 6 points ahead of Chelsea who sit in 5th. This result also sees United continue their streak of poor performances against the Top Six, having not won a single game against that group of clubs all season. Ole Gunnar Solskjær will certainly have to work on improving United's play against the tougher teams as they still have Manchester City and Liverpool remaining to play as well as a very formidable Leicester team. Thomas Tuchel, however, will probably be the unhappier manager as his side once again lacked fire power in the offense. Even though he continues his streaky start to life as Chelsea manager with 6 wins and 3 draws, he will no doubtedly be looking for ways to start ensuring goals from Chelsea's forwards, because Chelsea will simply not be able to reach a Champions League spot without them.