Louis van Gaal’s gameplan was based around the width provided by his full-backs and helped Manchester United put in an encouraging showing against Chelsea, who lacked variety

Diego Costa’s late strike denied Manchester United all three points, but this was an encouraging away performance from Louis van Gaal’s side, based around a traditional United concept: width.

Throughout their most notable periods of success under both Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, United generally played with great width on both flanks, and based their play around quick diagonal passes out wide and plenty of crosses. Many have said Van Gaal’s possession-based approach doesn’t fit with United’s historic style of play, but more performances in this manner, and that criticism becomes less valid.

Chelsea’s Diego Costa strikes at the last to deny Manchester United Read more

That said, the width wasn’t provided in the conventional manner: Van Gaal fielded no touchline-hugging wingers, and instead fielded players who drifted inside into central positions. Jesse Lingard acted as an extra central midfielder at times, while Anthony Martial twice went close having cut inside from the left before shooting powerfully with right foot, the Frenchman’s trademark move.The width came from deep. Full-back duo Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Matteo Darmian were both excellent, taking up aggressive starting positions and timing their overlaps at the perfect moments. Borthwick-Jackson’s first cross of the game forced Branislav Ivanovic to head behind, winning the first in a succession of corners, while Darmian ended the first half by playing a superb low ball across the six-yard box.

In truth, United lack a reliable penalty area poacher who thrives on crosses, with Wayne Rooney often taking up deeper positions, but their determination to stretch the play and go down the outside pushed Chelsea back, and ensured they dominated the opening period.

Their 61st-minute opener was a fine demonstration of their emphasis on pushing the full-backs forward: Borthwick-Jackson collected the ball on the left flank, whipped a wonderful cross into the box, before Rooney’s touch allowed Lingard to swivel and fire a superb shot into the top corner. It was a moment of individual magic, but also typical of United’s gameplan.

Chelsea v Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened Read more

Chelsea failed to offer anything similar, which was particularly obvious in the first half. Oscar and Willian both wanted to come inside and combine with Cesc Fàbregas, but Chelsea’s play was too congested and lacked variety. There was only one good piece of combination play from the home side, when Willian and Oscar combined in narrow positions, before the latter slipped in Costa to fire wide from the inside-right channel.

Of course, this narrowness wouldn’t have been a problem if Chelsea weren’t deploying such conservative full-backs: Branislav Ivanovic is a converted centre-back who has been particularly defensive this season, having been exposed when pushing up the pitch earlier in the campaign, while right-footed César Azpilicueta overlaps when possible down the left, but doesn’t offer a serious crossing threat.

Willian, Chelsea’s best player this season, was most dangerous when providing right-sided width. He shimmied past Borthwick-Jackson to fire a good ball across the six-yard box which evaded everyone, and then shortly before half-time, played a deflected cross from a similar position, which saw John Terry’s close-range shot blocked by Daley Blind. Willian always wants to be involved, but he’s a player who thrives on space – and he usually finds it out wide.

Just eight minutes into the second half, Guus Hiddink attempted to introduce more quality in wide positions with the introduction of Eden Hazard in place of Oscar, and later brought on Pedro Rodríguez with Willian moving into a central role. Regular crosses weren’t forthcoming, but Chelsea stretched the play more, had longer spells of pressure, and their central players found more space to get them back into the game.

Fàbregas’ pass for Costa’s late equaliser was wonderfully weighted, and a sign that the Spanish playmaker is beginning to rediscover his touch, but Chelsea can’t depend on this type of pass alone – they must offer more variety of angles in attack.