Chelsea, Man United title chanceshampered by draws

Leaders, Chelsea could only pick up a
point as they were held by a resilient
Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium. Sadio
Mane gave the Saints the lead when he
pounced on John Terry’s hesitancy in
defence before lifting his shot past
Thibaut Courtois. Eden Hazard equalised
seconds before the interval when he
drifted in from the left before firing in low.
Saints finished with 10 men when Morgan
Schneiderlin was shown a second yellow
card for a foul on Cesc Fabregas.
However, Manchester United’s pursuit of
Chelsea and Manchester City in the
Premier League title race was hampered
by a frustrating draw at Tottenham.
United created several good chances in
the first half, with Juan Mata’s deflected
free-kick hitting the post. Home keeper
Hugo Lloris also denied Radamel Falcao,
Robin van Persie and Ashley Young as
Spurs offered little. Spurs’s Andros
Townsend saw two shots easily saved,
but the hosts rallied late on with Ryan
Mason firing over. Mauricio Pochettino’s
team had scored late winners against
Swansea and Leicester recently but,
despite enjoying almost 65 percent of
possession in the final 15 minutes, could
not create any last-gasp drama against
third-placed United. United boss Louis
van Gaal grimaced as he disappeared
down the White Hart Lane tunnel,
probably wondering how his side did not
close the gap on leaders, Chelsea, who
also dropped points at Southampton. The
Dutchman had been critical of the Pre­
mier League’s busy Christmas schedule,
but decided to name an unchanged XI
from the 3-1 home win against Newcastle
less than 48 hours earlier. Despite the
short turnaround, his players looked full
of energy as they dominated the first half,
moving the ball quickly – and with
purpose – as they picked holes in the
Spurs defence. Mata’s free-kick clipped
the home wall and deflected on to Lloris’s
left-hand post before only Vlad
Chiriches’s desperate lunge prevented
Falcao scrambling in the rebound.
Seconds later, Phil Jones thought his
close-range header had crossed the
Spurs line before Jan Vertonghen’s
acrobatic clearance, and although the
United defender was proved right by
goal-line technology, he was denied by an
offside flag. W hile t he p ossession and
territorial statistics were evenly matched,
United continued to create the goalscoring
opportunities. Falcao shot tamely at
Lloris, Van Persie could not convert when
clean through and the France keeper
brilliantly tipped away Young’s curling
shot. But United appeared tired after the
break, failing to have a shot on target, as
Spurs improved. Knowing they would
move into the top four with their fourth
straight win, Spurs pressed higher up the
pitch as the visitors were not allowed the
time or space that they enjoyed in the first
half.