Fallen powers Chelsea, Man United draw; Arsenal rises to 3rd

Diego Costa scored an injury-time equaliser to deny United victory at Stamford Bridge and Mata added: “But Chelsea were always pushing and they scored a late goal and we didn’t have any time to get another goal”.

The stalemate against Chelsea leaves United fifth on the table, six points adrift of the coveted fourth place position that would guarantee Champions football next season.

The one positive for Chelsea is that the ailing champions remain unbeaten since Guus Hiddink was brought in as manager until the end of the season in December to replace the fired Jose Mourinho.

Man United manager Louis van Gaal voices his dissatisfaction with referee Michael Oliver following their 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

“We had four games without a win – when you play at the top that’s a long period, so your confidence drops a little bit”, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Missing out on the top four of the league is a real possibility and one that would be disastrous for the club.

“We played very good football”, Mata told Sky Sports afterwards on Sunday.

Chelsea rallied, John Terry seeing a penalty appeal waved away after his shot hit Daley Blind on the arm, but after Zouma had been stretchered off following an awkward fall, United made the breakthrough.

Before that the visitors forced Thibaut Courtois into a fine save as Anthony Martial cut inside to shoot and United were on top again early in the second half, when Courtois had to save from Wayne Rooney and Lingaard. Blind slipped as Cesc Fabregas threaded the ball through the United defense and Costa withstood Cameron Borthwick-Jackson’s challenge before rounding De Gea to score.

“It was a great response, we’ve shown that character since the manager came in and that’s good to see”. “We have created a lot of chances here at Chelsea”. It was three hard points, but three very important points for us because we had not won for a while. Leicester have made a big impression in the last week after their results. “They have suddenly become the favourite in the Premier League and it makes our game (next week) a big game”.

In the 23rd minute he crossed for Olivier Giroud to head down and give Ozil the opportunity to score.

It also meant United had failed to win any of their last 10 league and cup meetings with Chelsea over the past three years. Hiddink said Zouma’s injury, which he called a “hyperextension of the knee joint”, will be examined Monday.