Until that moment clear chances had been hard to come by. Noni Madueke hit the outside of the post with a header, while Marcus Rashford also struck the woodwork during a scrappy opening 45 minutes.

The excellent Pedro Neto came close to putting us ahead as the contest opened up, before Robert Sanchez felled Rasmus Hojlund inside the box. Fernandes made no mistake from 12 yards.

The Blues reacted positively to going behind and with just over a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, Caicedo drew us level with a volley of consummate technique and placement.

Both teams had chances to win it and, although our wait for a win at Old Trafford goes on, the noise the travelling support made at full-time suggested this was a point gained rather than two dropped.

Team news

It was a familiar tale as Enzo Maresca again changed his entire starting XI from our most recent fixture, at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup. He reverted to the team that began the win over the Magpies a week ago, with Cole Palmer starting his 50th game for the Blues. Malo Gusto continued in his inverted right-back role.

Man United’s interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy had selected a strong side for their win over Leicester in midweek, and he opted to make just three alterations to that team: in came Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui and Rasmus Hojlund.

Asserting authority early

The contest started cagily but burst into life in the ninth minute when Caicedo brilliantly stole the ball in midfield and invited Palmer to drive at goal. After teasing his way into the box, Palmer found Matthijs de Ligt in the way of his goalbound shot.

That gave the Blues confidence. We began to assert our authority, and nearly took the lead when Madueke’s near-post header from a corner hit the outside of the post. Levi Colwill fired the rebound into the side-netting.

Midway through the first half, the hosts bared their teeth for the first time. Rashford’s dangerous low centre was kicked away by Robert Sanchez, with Fernandes unable to steer the loose ball on target. Then, after both teams had lost possession cheaply, Alejandro Garnacho curled straight at Sanchez.

Contest turns scrappy

The unforced errors kept coming, giving both teams chances to threaten on the break, albeit with no success. Palmer interrupted the scrappiness with a balletic touch that took him past Casemiro and Rashford. Manuel Ugarte hastily stopped him in his tracks with a shove, earning a yellow card in the process.

Diogo Dalot followed him into the book for a foul on Pedro Neto before the break. The half ended with a let-off, Rashford volleying a deep Fernandes cross against the crossbar and over.

Maresca sent on Marc Cucurella for Gusto at half-time, with James switching to right-back and the Spaniard now inverting.

It took until 10 minutes into the second period for a shot in anger. Palmer spread the play wide left to Neto, who scuttled into the box and drove a shot beyond both Onana and the far post. The Chelsea support had a good view of it and gasped in frustration. They knew it was close!

Cucurella and Neto had shots from distance blocked and saved respectively. Man United broke down the right, Fernandes teed up Garnacho 12 yards out, and he contrived to kick the ball against his standing foot. It looped gently into Sanchez’s arms.

Chelsea hit back

As the game entered its final quarter, Sanchez was adjudged to have brought Hojlund down as he controlled a diagonal Casemiro pass. Fernandes stepped up and, unlike the corresponding fixture last season, sent Sanchez the wrong way.

On came Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk, and the Ukrainian’s first involvement was to jump over a superb Caicedo volley that brought us level on 74 minutes!

Credit must first go to Neto, who kept fighting down the right flank and won a corner. Over it came and though a Man United head met it, the ball looped out only as far as Caicedo. His first-time strike was straight and true, nestling in the bottom corner beyond Onana’s reach.

We nearly completed the turnaround five minutes later. Caicedo’s pass was deflected into the path of Jackson because De Ligt slipped. The striker had his back to goal and opted to tee up Fernandez, who couldn’t match his midfield partner’s effort and steered his shot over the bar.

Chelsea fought hard in search of a deciding goal, although Garnacho came closest to getting it with an angled strike that fizzed over Sanchez’s bar. Fernandes was much further away with a volley of his own soon after. With time almost up, Caicedo proved his worth at the other end, with a vital clearance to stop Garnacho’s teasing delivery finding a red shirt. It epitomised a superb all-round display from the Ecuadorian.

What’s next?

It’s back-to-back home games for the Blues now. First, Armenian side Noah visit us in the Conference League, and then we welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge this time next week.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto (Cucurella h-t), Fofana, Colwill, James (c); Lavia (Fernandez 71), Caicedo; Madueke (Mudryk 71), Palmer, Neto; Jackson
Unused subs Jorgensen, Veiga, Badiashile, Disasi, Tosin, Joao Felix, Nkunku
Scorer: Caicedo 74
Booked Gusto 36, Jackson 90+5

Man Utd (4-2-3-1): Onana; Dalot, De Ligt, Martinez, Mazraoui; Ugarte (Lindelof 84), Casemiro; Rashford (Amad 73), Fernandes (c), Garnacho; Hojlund (Zirkzee 84)
Unused subs Bayindir, Evans, Wheatley, Amass, Fletcher, Fitzgerald
Scorer Fernandes pen 70
Booked Ugarte 42, Dalot 45+1, Rashford 67, Casemiro 85, Martinez 90+3

Referee Robert Jones

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