Moises Caicedo’s cracker denied Ruud van Nistelrooy a second win as interim Manchester United manager as incoming head coach Ruben Amorim watched Sunday’s hard-fought draw with Chelsea from afar.
A packed Old Trafford witnessed the pick of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures at the end of a whirlwind week that saw Erik ten Hag sacked and the Sporting Lisbon boss named his successor.
Van Nistelrooy will stay in charge until Amorim joins a week on Monday and raced down the touchline in celebration after Bruno Fernandes scored from the spot, only for Caicedo’s volley to seal Chelsea a 1-1 draw.
No fixture has finished level more in Premier League history than this and the result leaves United on 12 points – their lowest tally after 10 fixtures since 1986/87 – and 13th in the standings.
Quite a task awaits Amorim but there were some positives to take from a game that saw Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford hit the woodwork in a first half featuring penalty calls from both sides.
The hosts were awarded a spot-kick after the break and Fernandes coolly converted, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe celebrating in the directors’ box and Van Nistelrooy by the pitch.
But the interim boss was unable to follow up Wednesday’s 5-2 Carabao Cup win against Leicester with another victory as Caicedo’s fabulous volley secured Enzo Maresca’s men a share of the spoils.
There was a palpable sense of hope around Old Trafford, where Chelsea began sharply – little surprise given it was an entirely different side to the loss at Newcastle – and Cole Palmer saw an early shot blocked.
United made three alterations from their midweek tie and went close to conceding in 14th minute.
Madueke met a Palmer corner with a header that hit the near post, with Levi Colwill slamming the rebound into the side-netting.
The Chelsea centre-back bellowed for a penalty having seemingly been caught by Lisandro Martinez as he struck, but perhaps Madueke’s shove on Casemiro in the build-up explained the VAR’s lack of intervention.
United were struggling to create clear-cut chances and Fernandes could only strike wide after Robert Sanchez stopped a low Marcus Rashford ball with his feet.
Rasmus Hojlund’s spot-kick claims against Colwill during that move were ignored and Chelsea’s goalkeeper comfortably caught a poor Alejandro Garnacho attempt soon after.
Sanchez brilliantly stopped Hojlund scoring, unaware referee Robert Jones had blown early for a foul, with Fernandes’ attempt from the resulting free-kick coming to nothing.
Chelsea looked comfortable on the whole but nearly conceded with the final kick of the half, with Fernandes’s floated ball met by a Rashford volley that hit the top of the bar.
The second period got off to a scrappy start, with Pedro Neto lasering a low effort narrowly across the face of Andre Onana’s goal in the 55th minute and Rashford shot straight at Sanchez before Garnacho fluffed a first-time strike.
But soon the match would come alive as Casemiro floated a ball just over Wesley Fofana’s head to Hojlund, whose touch in the box appeared to take him too wide but ended up drawing a foul from Sanchez.
The Chelsea goalkeeper caught his ankle with a hand and was then sent the wrong way from the spot by Fernandes, whose goal sent Van Nistelrooy racing down the touchline before jumping into the air in joy.
Old Trafford erupted at a 70th-minute opener that would be sensationally cancelled out minutes later.
Casemiro rose to head clear a corner and Caicedo could not have met the ball more sweetly, with his volley from the edge of the box flying into the bottom left-hand corner to send the away support wild.
Substitute Enzo Fernandez lifted over as Chelsea sought a quickfire second, but United had the best chances to snatch a winner.
First Garnacho sent a strike fizzing agonisingly over from a Victor Lindelof header, then moments later Fernandes uncharacteristically hammered over when well placed.
Tempers frayed towards the end and Martinez escaped a booking being upgraded to a red card after his poor tackle on Palmer was reviewed by the VAR.
Manchester United captain Fernandes told Sky Sports after the match: "We know that Erik [ten Hag] has gone, it is not good for anyone at the club when the manager goes. The team is not the best, the results are not the best and he is the one who pays for it.
"Whenever you see a manager go you have to take some of the blame on yourself, it is because the team is not doing so well. I wasn’t scoring goals, we are not scoring goals and I feel responsible."
Chelsea scorer Caicedo told BBC Sport: "It was the chance to score a goal. I did it. I'm so happy. We knew if we waited for a long time [to equalise] it was going to be complicated. I'm so happy to equalise.
"We deserved to win. We knew it would be a tough game but we were prepared for it. I'm so happy for the team. It was a great fight."
