Moisés Caicedo put the brakes on Manchester United’s mini-revival under Ruud van Nistelrooy by earning a Premier League point for Chelsea with a stunning second-half volley in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy, who is in charge as interim head coach following last week’s sacking of Erik ten Hag, inspired United to a 5-2 win against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup in midweek in his first game.
And although Bruno Fernandes put United ahead with a 70th-minute penalty to give them hope of a crucial win, Caicedo cancelled out the goal with one of his own four minutes later.
Van Nistelrooy will remain in temporary charge for next week’s games against PAOK Thessaloniki in the Europa League and Leicester again in the Premier League next Sunday.
Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim will then arrive on Nov. 11 to become United’s sixth permanent boss since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Van Nistelrooy’s natural attacking instincts have already made a difference to Manchester United during his two games in charge, but the scars of Ten Hag’s cautious approach still run deep.
United’s toothlessness is borne out by the fact that they have led for a total of 90 minutes in the Premier League this season — and 55 of those came against struggling Southampton.
Only Fulham, Southampton, Brentford and now Chelsea have fallen behind against United this season.
Incredibly, for a club of their resources, only Southampton and Crystal Palace have scored fewer than United’s league goals.
Martínez was booked for a stoppage-time foul on Cole Palmer that could have been a red.
The knee-high challenge was reviewed by VAR but Martínez escaped further punishment.
