Chelsea vs. Manchester United result: Ronaldo benched, Sancho scores in 1-1 draw

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Simon Borg
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Jadon Sancho - Manchester United - Marcus Rashford - November 28, 2021

Premier League leader Chelsea needed to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 home draw against a spunky Manchester United side, which will be content to head home with the draw in the midst of managerial changes.

Jadon Sancho scored his first Premier League goal for Man United in the 50th minute, taking advantage of a poor giveaway from Chelsea midfielder Jorginho. But Jorginho would get a chance to make up for his error by burying a 69th-minute penalty kick awarded for an attempted Aaron Wan-Bissaka clearance in the box that made contact with Chelsea's Thiago Silva.

Man United caretaker manager Michael Carrick left superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench to start the game and he inserted Bruno Fernandes in the false nine position. But the Red Devils couldn't muster any dangerous attacks before the Sancho goal, concentrating instead on defensive duties.

MORE: How Man United beat Villarreal in the Champions League

Chelsea was the better team in the first half, but it was foiled by the crossbar and a handful of David De Gea saves. The Blues were then initially rattled by the Man United goal early in the second half, but after the penalty-kick equalizer they pressed for a winner, bringing on Christian Pulisic, Mason Mount and Romelu Lukaku off the bench. Antonio Rudiger had a chance to win it with a wide-open attempt deep in stoppage time, but his attempt missed the mark.

The 1-1 draw, coupled with wins by pursuers Manchester City and Liverpool, helped to reduce Chelsea's advantage at the top of the Premier League table (30 points) to a single point. All three teams, now within a mere two points of each other, will be on the road for midweek Premier League fixtures this Wednesday.

Man United (18 points), which advanced to the Champions League knockout stage in midweek, move up to eighth place, just five points from the fourth-place position that would guarantee a spot in next season's Champions League. With 25 matches left to play in the Premier League season, the club is expected to name Ralf Rangnick as its interim manager to take over for current caretaker Carrick. It's unclear who will be on the bench when Man United hosts Arsenal (23 points) on Thursday.

Chelsea vs. Manchester United final score

  1H 2H Final
Chelsea 0 1 1
Manchester United 0 1 1

Goals:
MANU — Jadon Sancho — 50th min.
CHE — Jorginho (penalty) — 69th min.

(All times Eastern)

Final: Chelsea 1, Manchester United 1

97th min.: What a great ball by Pulisic across the box to a wide-open Antonio Rudiger, but his first-time shot is way off target. It looked like the winner was there to be had.

94th min.: Manager Thomas Tuchel is irate at the officials after a Cristiano Ronaldo counterattack is allowed despite what replays showed was a clear offside. The Ronaldo attempt is cleared for a corner and nothing comes of it, but this is taking a ton of time off the clock. Tuchel gets a yellow for his protests.

88th min.: It's a giveaway by Chelsea in front of its own box! But Fred can't take advantage and his attempted chip falls right into the hands of Edouard Mendy.

87th min.: Man United defending for its life now. Cross after cross, corner after corner for Chelsea.

82nd min.: SUB - Romelu Lukaku comes on for Timo Werner.

79th min.: What a block by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Pulisic is the catalyst on a Chelsea attack, the ball squirts to Timo Werner in a central position in the box, but Wan-Bissaka is there to foil the attempt.

77th min.: SUBS - Jesse Lingard on for Marcus Rashford. Chelsea brings on Mason Mount for Marcos Alonso and Christian Pulisic for Callum Hudson-Odoi, who has gone quiet in the second half.

77th min.: Yellow card to Bruno Fernandes, who came in with the late tackle on Thiago Silva in an attempt to get to a ball on the counter.

69th min.: Jorginho makes up for his previous error and puts it away. It's 1-1.

67th min.: Chelsea penalty! Aaron Wan-Bissaka kicks out to clear a ball in his box, but he gets Thiago Silva and it's a penalty. Referee Anthony Taylor points to the spot. The VAR won't be overturning this.

63rd min.: SUB - After the latest Chelsea corner kick goes out of play, Man United brings on Cristiano Ronaldo for Jadon Sancho with 26 minutes to go.

58th min.: Poor effort from Timo Werner after a corner kick bounces to a wide-open Werner. He misfires. And that happened after Man United nearly sprung another successful counter.

53rd min.: Yellow to Reece James for taking down Marcus Rashford. Chelsea is needing to regroup after that blow. The goal was Jadon Sancho's first in the Premier League and it came just days after his first goal for the club in the Champions League.

50th min.: Goal Jadon Sancho! Jorginho all alone at midfield, fails to control a clearance of the Chelsea set piece, and Jadon Sancho steals it and takes it all the way. It was a 2-on-0 break. Man United takes advantage of a gift by Jorginho.

49th min.: Yellow card to Marcus Rashford for chopping down Trevor Chalobah. Dangerous Chelsea set piece coming up.

46th min.: Second half underway. No subs.

Halftime: Chelsea 0, Man United 0

Halftime: Chelsea is clearly the better team, but it's been a decent effort from the Red Devils who are chasing and tracking the Chelsea players best they can. And when they've failed, goalkeeper David De Gea has come up with big stops. The Antonio Rudiger crossbar is the best chance of the game and Callum Hudson-Odoi has created a few chances wide left. Man United put together a few counters toward the end of the half, showing the visitors could yet come up with something, especially with Ronaldo on the bench. Otherwise, it's been one-way traffic.

46th min.: The Reece James set piece bounces in the box and is swatted away by De Gea for a corner but nothing comes of it.

45th min.: Yellow card to Scott McTominay for pulling down Marcos Alonso who was making a run toward the Man United box. Set piece coming up for Chelsea.

44th min.: Counterattack by Man United sees the ball get to Fred in the box, but he goes down on a challenge from Rudiger. No whistle from the ref and it's the right call.

41st min.: A deep ball looking for Jadon Sancho forces Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy off his line to beat Sancho to the ball in the 'keeper's first action of the game.

40th min.: Giveaway by Fred in his own end after a poor backpass from a teammate. Chelsea nearly capitalizes, but Reece James can't put the ball on target.

36th min.: And now Hudson-Odoi with another effort on goal and De Gea stops Chelsea again.

31st min.: Chelsea hits the crossbar! Antonio Rudiger with the blast touched by David De Gea off the crossbar. And then there's an offside called on the follow-up.

25th min.: Strong defending so far from Man United. The Red Devils are challenging and running hard. No attacking threats to speak of for the visitors, but this result would suit them just fine.

18th min.: Hudson-Odoi feeds Ziyech at the top of the box and his first-time shot looking for the top right corner is way off the mark. Chelsea liking that wide left area with Marcos Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

16th min.: Man United has weathered the early storm from Chelsea and seems to be settling in nicely. Chelsea can't get into a rhythm so far.

7th min.: Fernandes wearing the captain's armband for Man United. He looks go be in the false nine position with Rashford and Sancho on either side of him.

4th min.: Kick save De Gea! Callum Hudson-Odoi gets through on the left side of the box and his 1-on-1 shot is kicked away for a corner by De Gea.

3rd min.: Ball squirts through to Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech in the box and he shoots between three defenders, but David De Gea snags it.

1st min.: We're off and Man United pressing high to start the match.

11:27 a.m.: Starters are on the field:

11:22 a.m.: Gary Neville speculating that incoming Man United manager Ralf Rangnick asked Michael Carrick to sit Ronaldo. That one sounds far-fetched:

11:22 a.m.: Perhaps sitting Cristiano Ronaldo has a lot to do with this matchup:

11:09 a.m.: Everyone's trying to figure out how Man United will line up: Is Bruno Fernandes in midfield or up top as a false nine?

9:26 a.m.: The scene for today's big match:

Chelsea vs. Manchester United lineups

Forward Romelu Lukaku is on the bench for Chelsea, which will be missing two important midfielders in Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante after he picked up a knee injury in midweek. Ben Chillwell is out with a long-term knee ligament injury.

Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3, left to right): 16-Edouard Mendy-GK — 2-Antonio Rudiger, 6-Thiago Silva, 14-Trevor Chalobah — 3-Marcos Alonso, 5-Jorginho, 12-Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 24-Reece James — 20-Callum Hudson-Odoi, 11-Timo Werner, 22-Hakim Ziyech

Chelsea subs (9): 1-Kepa Arrizabalaga-GK, 28-Cesar Azpilicueta, 4-Andreas Christensen, 18-Ross Barkley, 17-Saul Niguez, 19-Mason Mount, 10-Christian Pulisic, 9-Romelu Lukaku, 29-Kai Havertz

Interim Michael Carrick is making some big calls with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench and Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford getting the start after being left out of the starting lineup in midweek. Man United is shorthanded for this one: Harry Maguire (red-card suspension), Paul Pogba (thigh), Raphael Varane (hamstring), Luke Shaw (concussion protocol) and Edinson Cavani (tendon) are not in the squad.

Manchester United starting lineup (4-3-3, left to right): 1-David de Gea-GK — 27-Alex Telles, 3-Eric Bailly, 2-Victor Lindelof, 29-Aaron Wan-Bissaka — 17-Fred, 39-Scott McTominay, 31-Nemanja Matic — 10-Marcus Rashford, 18-Bruno Fernandes (capt), 25-Jadon Sancho

Manchester United subs (9): 26-Dean Henderson-GK, 20-Diogo Dalot, 4-Phil Jones, 14-Jesse Lingard, 8-Juan Mata, 34-Donny van de Beek, 11-Mason Greenwood, 9-Anthony Martial, 7-Cristiano Ronaldo

How to watch Chelsea vs. Manchester United

  • Date: Sunday, Nov. 28
  • Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
  • TV Channels: None
  • Streaming: Peacock

The match is only available in the USA on NBC's streaming platform Peacock.

In Canada, the Premier League is available exclusively, live and on-demand, on DAZN . And DAZN offers new customers a 30-day free trial period.

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Simon Borg Photo
Simon Borg

Simon Borg is a senior editor for football/soccer at The Sporting News.