Manchester United denied and Louis van Gaal rants on

Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1: Just when it seemed Louis van Gaal was about to gain the upper hand in his bid to stay at Old Trafford – at least in the short term — a late goal from Diego Costa, and another round of bizarre post-match ramblings from the United manager, have left everything back up in the air.

With 90 minutes gone at Stamford Bridge, United were deservedly leading 1-0 through an excellent Jesse Lingard goal and on course for their sixth win in eight games during 2016, hardly the record of a manager seemingly under pressure as he faces reports that Jose Mourinho is being interviewed for his job.

But nothing is that simple for United any more; and by the time Costa had grabbed a late equaliser and van Gaal had upped the ante in his increasingly bitter relationship with the media, the picture didn’t look so rosy.