Chelsea, Man United title chances hampered 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 Pre­mier 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.