LOUIS VAN GAAL saw his side go eight games without win as they were held by Chelsea at Old Trafford.
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| Louis van Gaal's side went eight games without a win after drawing tonight |
United did, however, end a run of four defeats in a row - but whether that's enough to save the Dutchman's job remains to be seen.
Van Gaal hinted he could quit following the Boxing Day defeat to Stoke and had been given these two games to save his job.
One defeat and one draw. No goals.
The performance, however, was an improvement on the placid and dull football seen by United in recent weeks but the face of Jose Mourinho on scarves ahead of kick off has done little to dampen the belief that Van Gaal's time is nearly up.
United are now one game from matching the 1973 record of nine games without a win and will try and equal that when they face Swansea on January 2.
Juan Mata rattled the crossbar after just two minutes against his old club before David de Gea was forced into a brilliant save from John Terry's bullet header in a lively start.
Anthony Martial then hit the post before being denied a penalty when he went down under pressure from Kurt Zouma.
United started with a better tempo than in recent weeks and got joy out of the wings with Juan Mata and full-back Ashley Young linking up well.
The midfield axis of the returning Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin seemed to give United a better platform and, with Chelsea missing both Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, the visitors has no early answer after Terry's header.
Rooney also returned after being dropped to the bench for the Stoke defeat.
But United couldn't maintain the pace and by the half hour mark the two sides were close to their recent levels with a number of niggly fouls being punished with yellow cards.
Chris Smalling, Morgan Schneiderlin and John Obi-Mikel all went into the book - with Pedro and Ander Herrera lucky not to join them - before the sides walked in goalless at the break.
De Gea made a fantastic double save at the start of the second half to Eden Hazard with his right hand then to Cesar Azpilicueta with his left - with Chelsea's best efforts since Terry's early header before United regained control.
It was Thibaut Courtois' turn to demonstrate his talents next when he saved Herrera's close-ranger effort after Martial's low delivery into the box.
United had a second penalty shout when the ball hit Willian's hand in the area but it was waved away by Martin Atkinson.
Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic then showed why he's only scored once so far this season when he skied over when one-on-one with De Gea from Hazard's perfectly-measured through ball.
Rooney missed a great chance with five minutes to go as he failed to get the right connection on Cameron Borthwick Jackson's fizzed cross in from the left.
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