MANCHESTER // Hope is slowly returning to Old Trafford.
There were only 14 seconds left when Robin van Persie struck a 93rd minute shot through a crowded box to equalise for Manchester United against Chelsea on Sunday, to make his side only the second to take points off the league leaders this season.
Seldom has a home draw been celebrated as vigorously by United fans, but then expectations have shifted since their team finished seventh last season and at present sit eighth.
They are not used to being underdogs at home, but United’s unsettled form under Louis van Gaal and Chelsea’s convincing start under Jose Mourinho prompted the new realism.
Mourinho’s side began the game 10 points ahead of his old boss’s charges.
They were missing their top scorer, Diego Costa, and Loic Remy, but United had lost injured striker Falcao and the suspended Wayne Rooney, plus the usual clutch of defenders.
It is no longer a given, but United did look like a team during the first half.
They attacked impressively, got players forward in central positions, defended well and enjoyed the majority of possession in a goalless first 45 minutes packed with incident.
After playing without recognised strikers in the equivalent game last season, Chelsea started on the front foot and then backed off after 20 minutes.
That Adnan Januzaj and Didier Drogba had shots within a minute before the break summed up the end-to-end nature of the encounter in which the visitors felt aggrieved not to get a penalty after Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry appeared to be manhandled.
Mourinho refused to be drawn into criticising the referee directly after the game, though he was clearly unsatisfied.
His team were superior in a second half where their performance was described by their boss as “fantastic”.
They deserved their 53rd minute lead as Drogba, 36, peeled away from his marker to glance a corner past David de Gea.
Van Persie and Rafael were both culpable, but it was also classic Drogba and he savoured his celebration.
United offered little in response, with De Gea again producing key saves as probable United signing Victor Valdes watched on from the stands.
Angel Di Maria and Juan Mata will have better games, Eden Hazard and Drogba can be satisfied with their day, while Ivanovic was dismissed for a second yellow card – his side’s seventh.
The visitors were leading with seconds remaining as he trudged off into the Stretford End tunnel, but the fans jeering him quickly switched their attention as Van Persie scored.
“A good Man United and a very good Chelsea,” said Mourinho, who concluded that he was not happy with a draw.
“I’m happy with my players. We got the same result as last season, but if I compare with the evolution of my team, then we are not happy with the point.”
Asked if his side deserved a point, Van Gaal, who was unhappy with Van Persie taking his shirt off in the celebration, said: “Yes, and they do also.
“It was not our best performance. That’s a pity because I said to the boys, ‘You have to show yourself against the better teams’. My boys fought to the end and they deserved [the goal].”
But it was the 3,000 Chelsea fans singing “We are top of the league” in the 75,000 crowd at the game’s finish.
Yes, they are, and they are likely to be top all season, but it was the United fans who left Old Trafford in a better mood after seeing that their team can finally avoid defeat against a top team.
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