Man United 0-0 Chelsea: The one where no one wanted to make a mistake

Like a city bus, you wait your managerial career for a goalless draw to come along and get two in less than a week. You are welcome neutrals. The Premier League had become a little too fun this season with mad results and goals galore. It's important to have balance -- something Chelsea could do with a little more of at the moment.

While loathe to ever agree with the musings of a mad man, Patrice Evra did make a solid point when he went to war with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink following Man United's stalemate with Chelsea. Both teams were playing from a position of fear. Neither side were willing to open themselves up in case they found their defence under siege.

With the flood of criticism that's been directed at Frank Lampard at his inability to sort out Chelsea's backline, a more pragmatic approach to matches makes sense - to a point. More so against Sevilla earlier in the week than this particular iteration of Manchester United.

Lampard kicked off his reign as Chelsea boss against Man United in a humbling 4-0 defeat. A match that saw Chelsea dominate and still ship four goals. There is a chance that rude awakening to life in the Premier League coloured the tactical preparation for this match - despite an impressive win in the FA Cup semi-final.

This conservative approach may very well boost the confidence of Chelsea's defence and be the catalyst for a series of wins in the coming weeks. Which would make this an excellent point. But it feels like with a little more bravery, Chelsea could have kept their shape, clean sheet and taken all three points.

Man United were on the back of consecutive wins. Both away to home and one to a Steve Bruce side. Which never counts when it comes to Manchester United. The PSG victory was a lot more impressive - but that really came down to David de Gea having an excellent performance. BUT -- both of these matches were away from home.

In their previous two matches at Old Trafford they shipped nine goals, six to Spurs and another three to Crystal Palace. They also left Paul Pogba on the bench. And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bizarrely took Juan Mata off when he was probably man of the match up to that point. They are lacking in confidence at the back every bit as much as Chelsea this season. A little more service to the Germans would have been the difference.

The other missed opportunity to take the points - as it has been many times was failing to dispatch Olivier Giroud. He creates space, his link up play is second to none and he's savvy in his defensive play as well. With the brilliant crosses fed in by both Ben Chilwell and Reece James, it seems just to make sense to have a target man who knows how to get on the end of them out of nowhere.

Edouard Mendy and Thiago Silva both proved their worth in the second half. A couple of excellent saves from the keeper. Almost good enough to erase the memory of the attempt to just pass it into his own net in the first half. Almost. But not quite - the streets will never forget. 

After seven years at PSG together, Saturday's clash was the first time Edison Cavani and Thiago Silva faced each other as opponents since their days in Serie A. El Matador nearly scored with his first touch. He will definitely score Premier League goals this season - but not against anyone who knows him well. Silva produced an outrageous block out of nowhere to stop Cavani dead in his tracks.

jb x

RESULT: Man United 0-0 Chelsea

GOALS: N/A

CHELSEA XI: Mendy, James, Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, Jorginho, Kante, Havertz (Mount 72), Pulisic (Ziyech 81), Werner (Abraham 71)

STAR MAN: Thiago Silva