Lingard: Chelsea draw feels like a defeat

Diego Costa scored a late equaliser to preserve Chelsea’s unbeaten record under interim boss Guus Hiddink and deny Manchester United a win.

That result left the Red Devils six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City and 12 behind leaders Leicester in the Barclays Premier League, and they are out of the Champions League.

Costa rounded goalkeeper David De Gea to net his sixth goal in seven league appearances under Hiddink and cancel out Jesse Lingard’s 61st-minute volley.

United coach Louis van Gaal could not hide his frustration at conceding such a late goal after a promising performance.

Chelsea and Manchester United are the two most successful sides in the history of the Premier League era, but both sides have had far from a decent campaign this time around in the 2015-16 season.

Jose Mourinho continues to be linked with the Dutchman’s job, but in the wake of the 1-1 draw at Chelsea which did little to boost his side’s top-four hopes, Van Gaal hit out.

Returning to a previously expressed complaint about the effect the speculation about his future has had on his family, Van Gaal added: “Now I have to say that you are getting the sack tomorrow, eh?”

United had dictated the pace of Sunday’s game, initially showcasing a newly-discovered vigor and passing precision, but only scored in the 61st minute.

“Martial is one of the key players at a young age”, he said.

Thibaut Courtois was called upon twice in the opening 15 minutes, comfortably gathering low-range efforts from Cameron Borthwich-Jackson and Michael Carrick. Just before the final whistle the same man on the front was close to get us a victor, but once again De Gea kept United in the game.

“I said before when we were one point from the relegation zone, of course our target must still be the fourth place for Champions League, but at that moment I also said we have to start winning”, Hiddink said.

“We have to battle on though, keep going and play something like we have been doing over the last few weeks and then see where that takes us”.

“Leicester running away and us playing them next week, (makes) the game interesting”, Wenger said.