Manchester United vs. Chelsea Scores, Results & Highlights: What We Learned From 1-1 Draw

By David Salazar First Posted: Oct 28, 2014 06:14 PM EDT

While the Clasico was all the rage this past weekend, another epic rivalry unfolded a day later on Sunday.

Manchester United and Chelsea are two of the biggest clubs in the world and their big battle was upstaged by the Spanish rivalry. But did the English match live up to the previous day's big game?

What did we learn from the 1-1 draw that unfolded at the Old Trafford?

Manchester Still Not a Contender

This was a litmus test for Louis van Gaal and company. The team has struggled throughout the opening of the year and have only managed three victories from nine matches. But to play at home against the title favorites was a great chance to set things right and put the team in a position to turn around its season.

United dominated for most of the game. Possession was in its favor throughout. And the team managed to get 19 shots at the goal (albeit only nine were actually on target) while shutting down Chelsea throughout.

But it speaks to the ineffectiveness of the team that United could not score until the waning seconds of the game and rarely troubled opposing netminder Thibaut Courtois.

United avoided defeat, but the team needed a red card to go its way in the waning minutes to get the space to reverse the result and earn a point. However, the point says it all. When a team of Manchester United's stature is celebrating a draw on home turf, there are some issues.

Robin Van Persie Steps Up

He was the best player for his club and came up huge at the death. It speaks volumes that Van Persie has looked best when he is the main man leading the line.

He showed some glimpses of chemistry with Radamel Falcao, but his work with Wayne Rooney has been disastrous throughout and has seemingly hindered the Dutch captain. According to WhoScored, this was his finest performance of the season. Remarkably, he only had 26 touches in the entire game but he made them count. He had six shots at goal and four of them were on target. One of them saved United.

It should be interesting to see how Van Gaal plays this particularly card and how it affects Rooney's place on the team.

Didier Drogba Impresses

Diego Costa is a huge player for Chelsea. He is the offensive stalwart that has seemingly made the team a massive offensive threat in the early going.

But without him, Chelsea is faced with a huge issue. Last season, the team had no reliable forward and this year there were questions about whether the legendary Didier Drogba would be up to the task.

He handled himself extremely well in the tie against United with a goal and some astute play in the air. According to WhoScored, he won six aerial duels, more than any player on the pitch. That in and of itself is hugely impressive.

It seems that if Costa is gone for a prolonged period, Chelsea has someone to back him up.

Chelsea Still Team to Beat

In a weekend that included disappointing performances from Manchester City and Liverpool, Chelsea continued to prove itself as the top team. While United did have the lion's share in possession, the Blues looked disciplined defensively throughout and only imploded when down a man.