Chelsea 1 - Manchester United 1: Costa comes to Blues aid as Van Gaal's men suffer late on

MANCHESTER UNITED practically ended their hopes of title success this season as Chelsea's Diego Costa levelled late to deny the visitors victory.

 

Diego Costa stole the show in the final moments to equalise

 

Louis van Gaal's men fought hard but failed to win their fourth game in five in all competitions as Guus Hiddink's side recovered to maintain his unbeaten run as boss at Stamford Bridge.

The Red Devils thought Jesse Lingard had become their hero when he snatched his chance to grab the headlines with a second-half goal but it finished all square. 

Chelsea edged the first half but it was the visitors who tested the waters first.

Anthony Martial went close for United when he had a shot expertly tipped round the post by Thibaut Courtois.

Chelsea begin to take control after half an hour of cagey football in west London. 

Diego Costa was fed in by Oscar but the through ball wasn’t matched with a finish as he pulled his shot across David De Gea and wide of the far post.

 

Azpilicueta then knocked the ball off to Oscar who swivelled but blasted over from a tight angle.

Willian was a bright light going forward creating chances, tearing young Cameron Borthwick-Jackson up too. 

On stroke of half-time, Willian cut the ball back to John Terry who swung an effort towards goal but Daley Blind deflected it wide for a corner. 

There were strong appeals for a penalty but referee Michael Oliver turned them down despite the fact Blind blocked it with an arm.

Louis van Gaal’s side then came out with some real impetus after the break as Wayne Rooney and Martial went close in quick succession. 

 

Eden Hazard was called on to regain some momentum but the whole match was brought to a standing halt when Kurt Zouma suffered a serious looking injury.

The Frenchman jumped high for a clearance but landed awkwardly as his knee bent on landing, leading to a lengthy stoppage.

To add insult to injury for Chelsea, United took the lead shortly after as Jesse lingered opened the scoring on 61 minutes. 

Rooney started to move by laying the ball into the attacker’s path as Lingered spun and blasted the ball into the top corner.

The Blues bombed forward and Cesc Fabregas was denied with 20 minutes to go as De Gea came to United’s rescue again with a sharp stop to palm over.

Diego Costa then came to the rescue as his first attempt was blocked in injury time by Borthwick-Jackson but he was first to the rebound to finally beat De Gea.

United stay fifth while Chelsea remained 13th in the table.