The England striker, who is expected to be the subject of a third bid from Jose Mourinho’s team this week, gave a typically spirited performance on a night where defences were on top.
The Red Devils dominated possession and went close through Tom Cleverley, Rooney and Danny Welbeck who arguably missed the biggest chance of the game when he fizzed wide from 10 yards just shy of the hour.
The hosts then had a penalty appeal waved away when the ball appeared to hit Frank Lampard’s arm in the area while at the other end Ashley Cole was unlucky not to win a spot-kick after being caught by Phil Jones.
United continued to press late on but Robin Van Persie saw a volley blocked as David Moyes’ first competitive home match in charge ended in a stalemate.
Chelsea’s Juan Mata was an unused substitute on the night, which could spark further rumours about his future.
KEY MOMENTS
PRE-MATCH: Rooney starts. Torres on the bench for Chelsea – All of the talk leading up to kick off centred around whether Rooney would start and perhaps it was no surprise to see Moyes opt for a big name player on a big occasion. Not to be upstaged, Mourinho sprung his own surprise by picking Andre Schurrle to lead the line ahead of Torres and Romelu Lukaku.
5′: FIRST INCIDENT INVOLVING ROONEY – First moment of danger involving Rooney inspires a roar of approval from the home support and is followed by chants of “Rooney, Rooney.” This is then echoed by Chelsea’s travelling support.
17′: JOSE’S PEN – It may have been all quiet on the pitch but Mourinho amused the Old Trafford crowd behind his dugout when he appeared to misplace his pen for note-taking.
38′ MAN UNITED CHANCE – Phil Jones drives down the right and fizzes in a low cross that is just about cut out on the stretch. Tom Cleverley follows up and sears a thundering shot just past the upright.
57′ HUGE CHANCE! Rooney shows great feet to hold off Ramires and slip a disguised pass into Welbeck. The striker has time to create a yard of space but then fires a shot high into the stand from 10 yards out.
’71 PENALTY APPEAL! Cole exchanges a one-two with Hazard and nutmegs Jones before tumbling in the area. Again, the ref says no pen.
’77 MAN UNITED CHANCE! Rooney links up with Welbeck and then smashes in a 25 yarder that Cech pushes away for a corner.
’88 MAN UNITED CHANCE! Van Persie crashes a volley against the arm of Mikel but again the ref says no penalty. It would have been harsh if it had been given.
TALKING POINT: There was only ever going to be one talking point and Rooney’s future will no doubt dominate headlines over the next week or so, particularly with rumours circulating that Chelsea submitted a THIRD bid for the player prior to kick off. The England man impressed and it looks a dead cert that Mourinho won’t give up on his fight to take Rooney to Stamford Bridge.
KEY STATS
Jose Mourinho has lost just two of his eight competitive games as a manager at Old Trafford (W3 D3 L2).
The stalemate was the first Premier League 0-0 at Old Trafford in 77 games (Arsenal, May 2009). Rare.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Wayne Rooney – MAN UNITED: The striker shrugged off speculation over his future to put in a fine display. All that was missing was that elusive goal.
PLAYER RATINGS
MAN UNITED: De Gea 6, Jones 6, Evra 6, Ferdinand 6, Vidic 6, Carrick 6, Cleverley 6, Valencia 6, Welbeck 6, Rooney 7, Van Persie 7. Subs: Young 6, Giggs 6.
CHELSEA: Cech 6, Ivanovic 7, Cole 7, Cahill 7, Terry 7, Ramires 6, De Bruyne 6, Lampard 6, Oscar 6, Hazard 6, Schurrle 5. Subs: Torres 6, Mikel NA, Azpilicueta NA.
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