Graphic: Chelsea v Manchester United stat attack

On the surface, Manchester United got what they came for: an away point and the brakes applied to Chelsea’s early-season momentum. Underneath, the draw was worth considerably more, for it sent out a message regarding the size of the fight required to wrest the Premier League trophy from Old Trafford.

There were seven Manchester United players booked, which suggests foul play, but this was a scrap between championship contenders, nothing more. That one of the teams started the day in fourteenth place and ended it in fifteenth is irrelevant. At the end of the match there was little doubt that United’s fight for a third successive title is only just beginning. They will claw their way to the summit, or near by, from here, make no mistake, and that was the true worth of yesterday’s performance. It said that the best is to come; and, until then, prepare for combat.

The FA will now deliver a charge of failing to control their players, but that is a strength of United. Even in adversity these players cannot be controlled for long, just as they cannot be intimidated, frightened, bullied or subjugated. They arrived at Stamford Bridge as inferiors on form, yet they were denied victory only by Salomon Kalou’s goal with ten minutes to go, by which time statisticians had started to anticipate the end of Chelsea’s 84-match unbeaten home run in the league.

That it was stretched to 85 is testament to the resilience of this team under Luiz Felipe Scolari, but while the tangible benefits were divided equally, this was a better afternoon for the visiting team.

For a start, Chelsea lost Deco in the warm-up and Ricardo Carvalho to a knee injury after 11 minutes and Scolari’s squad is surprisingly light once the surface is scratched. Yet this match was always going to be about United and their response to a tame display at Anfield the previous weekend and a disappointing goalless draw in the first game of the Champions League against Villarreal on Wednesday. Asked a question, they served notice. The season starts here.

Given United’s erratic form, if Sir Alex Ferguson could have shaken hands on a draw before the match started, he might have taken the offer. Certainly, his team resembled one designed not to lose, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tévez on the bench and a competitive midfield of Owen Hargreaves, Darren Fletcher, Paul Scholes and Park Ji Sung. Ferguson’s priority was to match Chelsea in a physical contest, but at United this is never at the expense of attacking intent. In the opening 15 minutes Fletcher, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand had chances and the goal that opened the scoring three minutes later was the culmination of the best passing move of the match.

Patrice Evra, Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov were involved in the set-up, Evra and Berbatov in the payoff – a cross and a shot parried by Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper, only to the feet of Park, who tapped the ball tidily into the unprotected net. And that was very much it from United, who went more than an hour before they created another chance, a cross from Ronaldo that Rooney smashed into the side-netting.

At that point, a frustrated Ferguson ventured to the touchline to discuss matters with his striker. Lip-reading football speak is a precarious occupation after the debacle over Marco Materazzi’s comments to Zinédine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup final, when the world’s professional interpreters of phoneme and viseme came up with so many versions of what was said as to render the process ridiculous. Palm-reading is more reliable, but, despite this disclaimer, Ferguson did appear on television pictures to be telling Rooney something about wanting it, probably a blunt instruction to be more of a defining presence in front of goal.

Rooney’s next action was a daft challenge on Ashley Cole, for which he was booked, and from the free kick that was awarded Chelsea equalised. Maybe he wanted it too much.

John Obi Mikel slung the long ball in and Kalou, a 73rd-minute substitute for Michael Ballack, who had come in for Deco, rose unmarked to head the ball past Tomasz Kuszczak, the substitute United goalkeeper. The draw was a fair result, even if United had executed their task more successfully than Chelsea. Despite this, from midway in the first half Chelsea had the best, perhaps the only, chances and with better finishing from Nico-las Anelka and Joe Cole could have got the goals that would have reestablished them at the top of the table and opened a nine-point gap on United.

With Didier Drogba fit, Anelka is surely on borrowed time at Stamford Bridge. Injuries aside – and the loss of Deco was huge – Chelsea’s biggest disadvantage was the absence of a cutting edge in front of goal. The nadir was a 72nd-minute cross from Joe Cole that Anelka should have turned in from a matter of yards but contrived to send in the opposite direction, away from goal. A poor finish a minute earlier had probably done little for his confidence and nor would a shot over in the 40th minute from a pass by Frank Lampard.

Joe Cole fared little better, slicing wide when put through one on one after nine minutes and shooting straight at Kuszczak from a brilliant pass by Ballack in the 65th. Not that Chelsea were at their best and Scolari’s move for Mineiro, a 33-year-old Brazilian free agent previously with Hertha Berlin, tells its own story about the depth of the squad.

United appeared to ride their luck in the 26th minute when Florent Malouda went through and got a touch on the ball before being swept away by a human tidal wave in the form of Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper. Mike Riley, the referee, said no penalty and Van der Sar left the field injured as a result five minutes later. It was a tough call and one can hardly blame Riley for giving United the benefit of the doubt; had a penalty been added to their roll call of seven bookings, we may never have heard the last of it.

Ferguson said that there was not a bad tackle in the match and he was partly right. There were, however, a few naughty ones, and three of United’s bookings were for dissent, so Ferdinand, Evra and Ronaldo at least have no cause for complaint. As for the rest, Scholes hit Ballack with his standard tackle from behind, Neville tripped Anelka when beaten for pace, Berbatov was booked for his fourth offence, a foul on Ballack, and Rooney made his aforementioned overenthusiastic challenge. To his credit, though, Riley refused to let Drogba on the field after half-time when improperly attired, having had 15 minutes to prepare for his substitution. Chelsea were furious, but more power to the referee for that.

Chelsea ratings

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech 5, J Bosingwa 5, R Carvalho 6, J Terry 6, A Cole 7 - J O Mikel 5 - J Cole 6, F Lampard 6, M Ballack 6 F Malouda 4 - N Anelka 4. Substitutes: Alex 7 (for Carvalho, 11min), D Drogba 6 (for Malouda, 46), S Kalou 7 (for Ballack, 73). Not used: C Cudicini, W Bridge, J Belletti, P Ferreira.

United ratings

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 - G Neville 8, R Ferdinand 6, J Evans 6 P Evra 7 - O Hargreaves 8, D Fletcher 6, P Scholes 6, Park Ji Sung 7 - W Rooney 7 D Berbatov 6. Substitutes: T Kuszczak 6 (for Van der Sar, 31min), C Ronaldo 6 (for Scholes, 54), J O’Shea (for Park, 73). Not used: W Brown, R Giggs, Nani, C Tévez.