Today’s 1-1 draw between Chelsea and Manchester United wasn’t controversial. If anything, it was the opposite – rather dull.
It got more lively in the second half with the two goals, and the spiciest moment of all came late on, when Lisandro Martinez got done by Cole Palmer and responded with a raking tackle across the attacker’s knee.
He got off with a yellow, but he’s a lucky boy.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was asked for his thoughts on the decision after the game, and he didn’t hesitate to say the ref got it wrong:
“I don’t think [Martinez] has the intention of going for the ball. For me, it is clear.”
The Chelsea coach admitted that was also what he had confronted the ref about at full time:
“Yes. He didn’t say nothing. It was not intention to go for the ball. He goes for the legs. There is no doubt about the decision. I think it is quite clearly a red.”
He also revealed that Palmer had iced up the injury post-game.
Maresca’s balanced take on draw
His thoughts on the game overall match what you’d expect from a coach who has managed a creditable draw – but probably knows his side could have done better:
“I think overall, we controlled the game quite well. Knowing against them, we are going to concede some chances. So we knew that. We did the most difficult thing in this stadium to come back when they score. Probably at 1-1, we exposed ourselves too much.”
It’s a fair assessment, and you can’t complain too much about a draw at Old Trafford, no matter how vulnerable Manchester United are at that moment. However the worrying trend of not being able to get results against our top 4 rivals continues, and next weekend’s game against Arsenal looks bigger than ever.