Manchester United 0 Chelsea 0: Nothing special... Chelsea slam door on United as Mourinho delivers bore draw

Thrills, intrigue, mystery — and that was just the team-sheet. A pity the show didn’t live up to the cast list.

Manchester United picked Wayne Rooney. Chelsea picked what is known in modern football parlance as a false nine. The crowd might as well have picked fluff out of their navels. A game that promised plenty, at the very least a compelling tactical battle, delivered less than the sum of its parts.

There were talented players here, but they were smothered by  efficient resistance and Jose Mourinho’s gambit of coming north without a conventional starting striker. As a consequence, this wasn’t even one for the purists, for those that love the subtlety of the chess match. This was a failure, pure and simple.

Back in the fold: Rooney started for United but was unable to break the deadlock at Old Trafford

Match facts

Man United: De Gea 6, Jones 6, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, Evra 6, Valencia (Young 67, 6) 8, Cleverley 6, Carrick 6, Welbeck (Giggs 78) 6, Rooney 7, Van Persie 6.

Subs: Anderson, Smalling, Lindegaard, Kagawa, Buttner.

Chelsea: Cech 6, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Terry 7, Cole 6, Ramires 6, Lampard 5, De Bruyne 5 (Torres 60, 6), Oscar 7, Hazard 6 (Azpilicueta 93), Schurrle 6.

Subs: Essien, Mikel, Lukaku, Schwarzer, Mata.

Booked: De Bruyne, Torres. 

*Click here for full player ratings at Old Trafford

• Click HERE for full results, fixtures and tables in the Premier League - plus your stats zone from the match

The point of football is to score a goal, so by definition, any 0-0 draw has failed in the point of the game. A 0-0 draw involving Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Eden Hazard and Oscar — plus a fine undercard — is a particularly damp squib.

To be fair, Rooney did his utmost. With 13 minutes to go he forced the best — the only real — save of the night from Petr Cech with a shot from 25 yards.

It wasn’t enough. Had a couple of Danny Welbeck’s chances fallen his way, or to Van Persie, it might  have been different but Welbeck is the least efficient of United’s  forwards and the score remained the same.

All in all, it was a disappointing evening for which Chelsea were mostly to blame. The false nine can be an exhilarating tactic — after all,  Barcelona and Arsenal’s Invincibles are among those who have played it. Last night, however, it served merely to stifle.

Rough and tumble: Cole scythes RVP down during an entertaining but goalless first-half

Here's the areas Rooney covered at Old Trafford - now click here for your bumper stats zone from the clash between Man United and Chelsea