Five reflections from United's comeback against Chelsea

Manchester United made life hard for themselves again, as they needed to post a dramatic three goal comeback to earn a point in their 3-3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - and here are some of the post-match reactions.

Comeback kids

Rooney slots home 2nd penalty kick of the game

It takes great spirit to comeback away from the depths of defeat, especially away from home. For whatever reason, United don't really seem to click into gear until they are being pushed to brink of the defeat with their backs against the wall. To score three goals against Chelsea in the second half, can certainly spur United on to the title, but they cannot keep putting themselves in this sort of predicament when a draw seems like a win.

Liable left
Now the comeback would not have been necessary if there wasn't for some absolutely terrible defending on the left-hand side of United's defense. The first goal was a combination of Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra inability to prevent Sturridge from getting the baseline and clipping his cross across the face of goal, which was unexpectedly turned in by Jonny Evans. The second goal was caused by Evra's slack defending and allowing Torres all day to send a dangerous cross to the far stick, which should've been better dealt with by Rafael. Then the third goal, Evra tripped and earned himself a booking and then Ferdinand inexcusably failed to mark David Luiz who beat him to the near post and scored with an easy header.

Influenced introduction
Thankfully for those two defenders, Sir Alex Ferguson had another aging start to bring on to change the game. In contrasting fashion to what happened at Liverpool, Paul Scholes came on and added a calming influence, even though he misplaced a pass or two, was incredible, and the Reds bossed the battle of the midfield after. Since he has come back into the squad, especially when he's on the field, the entire squad's spirits have seem to lift with his presence and influence.

Debatable decisions
A lot of attention, like there normally is since United always get the benefit of a refereeing decision, will be put on Howard Webb's decisions. Yes, in the end the world's best official awarded the Reds two penalties, but the game could've had a very different outcome if he got the two penalties that he should've awarded in the first half right! On top of that, he avoided making a big, big decision by sending off Gary Cahill on his Chelsea debut, which would have put Chelsea up against with less man against United. This is the second time this season, he's done that, and yet people with ill-advised notions that he's an United fan are as foolish as they come!

Questionable formation
Over the past month, Sir Alex has either gotten his substitutions dead on the money or just dead wrong. Yes, Hernandez scored a goal and Scholes was dynamite, so it was all rainbows and butterflies, right? Wrong. The formation was completely off-balance and, if Chelsea took their chances, there was no chance of a comeback for United. Since it was his first appearance in 2012, Young was getting tired and needed to be replaced, so why not keep the formation as is and bring Park on then? Instead, and when United was going for a goal Welbeck was pushed out wide and then Valencia was pushed back to right-back when Scholes replaced Rafael. It left two players - Ferdinand and Evans - at the back with no cover on the flanks. Same exact thing happened against City but, thankfully, Chelsea weren't as ruthless and Manchester United lost two points on the day instead of three!