Well, what a dramatic finale. It had looked like Chelsea were comfortable but they didn’t do quite do enough to kill the game off and, just like against Manchester City, they ended up conceding a late equaliser. They’ll feel they should have four points than they already have. As it is, the draw takes them four points clear of Southampton and six clear of City, who have Manchester United to thank for that. Mourinho won’t be happy with the Branislav Ivanovic red card but a draw was fair on the balance of play - this, after all, was undoubtedly the best Manchester United performance under Louis van Gaal. They go eighth, a point above Everton. Thanks for reading. Bye.

90 min+1: We’ll have four minutes of added time.

90 min: Andre Schurrle, over his bout of flu, replaces Eden Hazard.

88 min: Hazard trips Rafael on the right. He’s booked and United have a chance to get the ball into the area. Di Maria sends it in and Januzaj fouls Ivanovic.

86 min: “We’ll race you back to London,” chant the wags in the Chelsea end.

85 min: Corner to United, so Courtois catches it.

83 min: It’s extremely scrappy. The United fans sense there might yet be something in this for their team. “On the subject of half and half shirts, during my university years I once met an international student wearing a Liverpool shirt with ‘Man U 4 Life’ printed on the back,” says Nick Hart. “One can only remember the reaction when he went to get that printed up...”

80 min: Rafael crosses from the right and Wilson, quiet since his introduction, tries to direct a header over Courtois. He manages it but he also clears the crossbar. “I feel like, as a Liverpool fan, I have some big decisions to make in this match,” says Matt Dony. “Do I want United to win, even though that lifts them above Liverpool, to stop Chelsea pulling even further ahead? Or do I accept now that last season was a bit of a one off, and there definitely won’t be a title challenge this year, meaning Chelsea can do what they want, so United drop the points? I hate both teams, but I don’t want to hope for a draw. I’m so torn!”

79 min: Shaw comes inside and pokes a pass through to Van Persie, who turns away from Cahill, before forcing Courtois to save with his feet from an angle. Would he have scored that 18 months ago, though? Maybe. Anyway, United keep plugging away. Rafael finds Januzaj, who zips a shot a few yards wide from 18 yards. United may well have located a second wind.

78 min: Do Manchester United also get to bring on Frank Lampard?

77 min: Fellaini is booked for pulling back Hazard.

76 min: More Drogba history. After that goal against Stoke, his last five goals in his first Chelsea spell came in an FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham, an FA Cup final against Tottenham, a Champions League last-16 match against Napoli, a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and a Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

75 min: In case you were wondering, Didier Drogba’s previous goal for Chelsea in the Premier League came in a 1-0 win over Stoke City on 10 March 2012, a few days after Andre Villas-Boas had been sacked. How time flies.

73 min: This is the worst thing that you will ever see in your life.

71 min: Januzaj plonks a cross straight into the hands of Courtois. You can’t hang high balls into the Chelsea area when he’s around.

69 min: Brani Alves almost scores an absurd solo goal, dashing inside from the right and past a limp challenge from Rojo, but he flashes his shot wide of the far post from a tight angle. That was amazing, even though we didn’t get the finish. Branislav Ivanovic! He’s not supposed to do that! He’s supposed to look stern. Moments later, Willian has a shot from the left. It’s wide.

68 min: It was Ivanovic who was booked. Glad we’ve cleared that up. Glad we’ve spent so many minutes of our lives wondering.

67 min: Chelsea bring on Mikel for Oscar, United bring on James Wilson for Juan Mata, who hasn’t done much to show Chelsea that they were wrong to sell him.

66 min: Di Maria’s free-kick is nonsense, sent straight into the one-man wall. At least he gets a corner out of it, from which Smalling heads wide at the near post. By the way, it wouldn’t have been Drogba who got booked given that he was already on a yellow card, so I assume it was Ivanovic.

64 min: Di Maria tries to skip past Ivanovic, who puts his arm on his shoulder and gives away a foul. He can’t believe it. On Sky, Gary Neville says it was good defending from the Chelsea right-back. Drogba, I think, is booked for complaining, just like old times. It’s not clear.

63 min: Mourinho, having decided that this match is a little too exciting, is delivering instructions to John Obi Mikel. My guess is he’ll be on for Oscar.

62 min: Oscar is booked for a hack at Smalling’s calves. Meanwhile United have rather lost their way since going behind.

60 min: It’s all Chelsea.

59 min: United haven’t seen much of the ball in the last few minutes. Chelsea stream forward again and Willian’s firm drive from 25 yards is held by De Gea, diving to his left. It would be good to see Willian shoot a bit more.

56 min: So what can United muster in response? They don’t deserve to be behind, having played well. But maybe that’s the difference between these two sides at the moment - Chelsea are more streetwise. Are they at their best? No. Are they winning? Yes.

55 min: What is it with Didier Drogba and near-post headers from corners for Chelsea? He’s got two in two for them now.

52 min: Fellaini skews a shot wide from the edge of the area after good work from Van Persie and Blind. More encouragement for United. But then they’re indebted to a brilliant save by De Gea from Hazard. The Belgian ran inside from the left and exchanged passes with Drogba, before bursting straight through the heart of the United defence for a confrontation with De Gea - who pushes his shot behind for a corner. But it’s all to no avail, because...

51 min: We’ll see a good corner at some point, don’t you worry.

50 min: Fellaini, proving he does have his uses, cleverly flicks a header to Januzaj on the left. He wins a corner off Willian.

49 min: But then Chelsea turn up the tempo on the right flank. Drogba slips a pass inside to Ivanovic. He moves it on to Hazard in the area. Hazard to Oscar. He can’t turn. Back to Hazard. He’s crowded out. It’s all a bit of an unholy mess but eventually United bundle it away and it all ends with Fabregas picking up a booking for a foul on Blind.

48 min: United are doing well to crowd Hazard out. With Costa out, I suppose they’re able to place more attention on him.

47 min: De Gea and Blind mess around with the ball at the back, playing with it far too slowly, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Chelsea watch them for a while. Then Blind passes it to Smalling, who’s immediately under the pressure, causing him to lump it out for a throw. That was exactly like watching Barcelona at their best.

46 min: Off we go again. Chelsea get the second half up and running. I wonder if Mourinho has told Hazard to get after Rafael, who’s on a booking.

45 min+1: Mata’s shot has just landed in the car park at the Trafford Centre.

45 min: United go for a training-ground routine with the free-kick, Di Maria pulling it back to Mata, who wastefully blazes it over the bar

43 min: Januzaj takes on Ivanovic again and this time he does get the better of him, his cute turn forcing Ivanovic to pull him down inches outside the area on the left. A long debate ensues about whether Dowd was right to award a free-kick.

42 min: Mata sprays a pass out to Januzaj on the left. He runs at Ivanovic, pushing him back into the area, but his shot flashes past the near post, brushing the side-netting on its way behind.

41 min: De Gea, so often the United hero, stops them falling behind as Drogba threatens. A long ball over the top is dealt with poorly by Rojo, whose header falls to Oscar on the right side of the area. He brings the ball down and waits for support, before pulling a pass back to Drogba, who rams a shot goalwards but too close to De Gea, who saves with his legs. Both goalkeepers have made good saves now.

39 min: Hazard, Chelsea’s most threatening player, brilliantly wriggles out of a seemingly impossible position in the middle of the United half and runs at the defence, before falling just outside the area. But Rojo is not penalised. Play continues and Matic is booked for barging into Van Persie. Chelsea are annoyed.

38 min: Di Maria sends the free-kick straight to Courtois.

37 min: Rafael decides to explore a cul-de-sac down the right but Chelsea are too keen to win the ball back and end up fouling him.

36 min: Chelsea appeal for a penalty as Ivanovic goes down under a challenge from Smalling and they might have had a point. Fabregas curled a free-kick to the far post from the left and Smalling appeared to pull Ivanovic down. He’s furious but Phil Dowd isn’t interested.

34 min: A mistake in United’s midfield and suddenly Willian is running straight at Smalling, who’s the only defender back for the home side. But there’s no conviction about Willian’s attempt to burst past Smalling, who’s quick enough to quell the danger with ease. That was pretty lame from Willian. Moments later, though, United do it again, a loose touch from Blind conceding possession to Drogba. But he takes too long to find Hazard and the chance is gone.

32 min: Not much has happened for a few minutes, which allows me to ask you the following: ever seen Thibaut Courtois and Novak Djokovic in the same room?

31 min: Whisper it but United are looking like something approaching a proper team at the moment.

30 min: And now they’re up again.

29 min: Di Maria and Matic are both down after a coming together.

26 min: Willian tries to beat Shaw for pace on the right but the left-back times his tackle well and manages to leave a bit in on the Brazilian for good measure. He’s feeling a bit sore for a few seconds but is up again after a quick rub of the ankle. “Some footballers are “discarded” as it were, and so would have every right to do so, but many others do actually acknowledge that they were snapped up by BigClub only because LittleClub developed them well and provided them with the shop window, and so have the grace to feel a little uncomfortable,” says Robert Coughlan. “A 1-0 result, from a penalty that never was, or an offside that was missed, please - says this Saints fan!”

25 min: This is magnificent from Hazard, who beats both Di Maria and Rafael with a feint, a drop of the shoulder and a change of pace. He finds Willian on the right but his low cross is cleared. United are defending unusually well.

24 min: Chelsea attack, United attack. Di Maria curls a cross in from the right and Van Persie tries to loop a back-header over Courtois. Not a bad effort, but Courtois is tall enough to save it. And Chelsea attack. This time it’s Drogba on the right. His cross is headed behind by Rafael. Another corner to Chelsea but again it comes to nothing.

23 min: Courtois makes a fine save to deny Van Persie the opening goal! United broke with pace and Januzaj pierced the Chelsea offside trap with a pass through to Van Persie, whose shot was saved by the onrushing Courtois. He makes himself so big. Chelsea then stream up the other end, with Drogba in space on the left, but his cross towards Oscar is cleared.

22 min: Drogba is booked for stopping Mata bringing the ball forward.

21 min: Oscar nudges a pass over the top to Hazard. It’s not good enough but Di Maria’s miscontrol, under no pressure, gifts Chelsea a corner. De Gea catches it.

20 min: The game has quietened down a tad in the last ten minutes. I suspect that Mourinho wasn’t particularly pleased with the space United were finding on the break and has reacted accordingly, with Chelsea stepping them back a little.

19 min: Di Maria whips the cross in and it flies off Smalling’s bonce and over the bar.

18 min: Di Maria jazzes past one Chelsea player, so Matic rudely steps across and bumps him over on the right. United have a free-kick in a similar position to where Di Maria scored from against QPR last month.

17 min: Do you like pictures? Of games involving Manchester United and Chelsea? Then do I have just the thing for you!

15 min: Oscar should release Drogba behind the United defence but his pass is unacceptably underhit and Rojo cuts it out. A waste. “On the subject of being paid to sport a particular look (ref: 7mins) - I hope someone is slinging De Gea a few bob for that new haircut,” says Alex Moss. “It’s awful.”

14 min: The corner comes in and is headed away as far as Hazard, who volleys the ball back out to Fabregas. He curls a cross to the far post, where it’s flicked wide by Ivanovic. Naturally a corner is given. United aren’t happy. Why would they be? Of course, that wouldn’t have happened under the Ferguson Association, but those days are gone now. Not to worry, though, Drogba’s header from the incorrectly awarded corner is harmless enough.

13 min: Oscar sneaks on to a pass from Drogba behind Rafael. For a moment, I thought Rafael was going to foul him, like an idiot. But he controls himself and settles for giving away a corner.

12 min: Hazard goes past Rafael as if he isn’t there. Rafael rashly grabs him back and duly picks up a booking. Have fun marking Hazard for the next 80 minutes or so.

11 min: On the subject of celebrating against your former club, I think we should go further and make players apologise for celebrating when they scored for their former club against their new club before moving to their new club. As such, Juan Mata should apologise to all United fans for scoring the winner here for Chelsea in 2013. It’s good to have all the bases covered.

10 min: We haven’t seen much of Fabregas yet. “The thing about ellipsis is that it too often ends in ... bathos,” says ... Charles Antaki. “What you want is a bit of syllepsis, as in (to bring the well-known one about a huff and a sedan chair a bit more up up to date) “Haaland went off in tears and an ambulance”.”

9 min: This is a nice, brisk start from United. They’re playing with energy when they attack. Mata feeds Shaw down the left. His cross is cleared to Di Maria, whose ambitious volley from 25 yards flashes well over. Still, you wouldn’t have put it past him to get that right.

7 min: Hazard takes his eye off the ball and lets a pass run out for a throw-in. Rubbish, him, rubbish. “I heard that Mourinho is wearing that scarf because he is paid to,” says JR in Illinois. “I can detect no logo on the scarf so my question is who and why would someone pay him to wear it?” For banter?

5 min: United look edgy at the back and understandably so. They’re giving the ball away in dangerous positions with too much regularity and that could spell trouble. Hazard zigzags into the area. But Fellaini slams the door in his face. He could be important today. “The fuss over whether players should or should not celebrate after scoring against their old clubs,” says Tom Shaw. “Anyone in their right mind would want to rub their noses right in it.” Will Mata celebrate?

4 min: The corner is cleared and here come United, Di Maria charging up the right flank at a furious pace! He finds Mata and the ball eventually moves over to Januzaj on the left,. He drives inside and then rolls a pass through to Van Persie, who has a clear sight of goal in the Chelsea area. But then he slips at the crucial moment! Oh dear. He really is out of sorts. The ball stays alive, though, and Fellaini tries to make something out of it. He can’t. Chelsea clear. Not for long, though. Mata pops up on the edge of the area and jabs a lovely disguised pass to Di Maria, who snatches a left-footed volley over from the right. More, please!

3 min: The corner comes to nothing but back come Chelsea. Hazard zips down the left, reaches the byline and stabs in a cross that has Oscar interested. Another corner to Chelsea.

2 min: Louis van Gaal is writing something on a sheet of paper. Although, thinking about it, he could just be doing a doodle of Jose Mourinho. Or maybe he’s writing him a poem. Anyway Chelsea swing down the left flank. Luis’s cross is half-cleared but then Rojo dumps United in it with a dreadful pass out from the back. The ball is worked to Oscar, whose shot from the edge of the area takes a deflection and spins out for a corner.

Peep! Football! Manchester United, kicking from left to right, get the ball rolling. It’s not long before they have ... a goal-kick. That didn’t really deserve the ellipsis treatment, did it. Oh well. It’s my minute-by-minute and I’ll use ellipsis as ... and when I see ... fit.

And here come the teams! You’ll be pleased to hear that Manchester United are in red and Chelsea are in blue. There’s been a lot of nonsense recently where teams have worn away kits when there was no need to do so, presumably at the behest of some goon in the marketing department. None of that today, though, and no stupid tracksuits either. These teams are decked out properly. Here’s hoping for a classic! “Imaginary card-waving,” says Eamonn Maloney. “Who cares? Players and managers are always trying to influence the ref to give cards verbally, but as that’s not visible/audible, to the audience, we’re lulled into thinking everyone’s ‘sportsmanlike’.”

“Don’t let all this football stuff distract you from the issue at hand: Mourinho looks like a walking carpet in that photo,” says James Galloway. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t any more, so when did he transform from teenwolf to the smooth, silverfox we have today? And will van Gaal inevitably be given credit for it?”

Actually I’ll only be focusing on handshakes and shirt-swapping today. Screw the football. On which note: what are your favourite non-issues? I’ll start: whether or not teams have poppies on shirts.

And now it’s Van Gaal’s turn to speak about Mourinho. “I have a relationship with everyone I met. But he is special because coming back in the football world. So there you are - special. I knew him when he was my assistant and he had to analyse all my opponents. He came every week to my house to explain so I know him very well. The respect came and confidence came and when you have confidence in people, it ends in a friendship. In the football, contact continues - and contact is not so often. So we have to be careful with our relationship. It helps that I know him but he knows me. What I have seen in his teams, he does the same that I do. But he is further in the process, you can see that. Nevertheless we can win today.” These guys really like each other. I bet Mourinho doesn’t do an early handshake with Van Gaal. I bet Van Gaal won’t push Mourinho.

Mourinho speaks about the absence of Costa. “It is a blow for us but i think it is a blow for the game that there is no Remy, no Diego, no Falcao, no Wayne Rooney but we have our objectives. The fact we don’t have a couple of players doesn’t make us change.

And on Drogba. “No, he is a different player than the others but obviously we are going to adapt to a different style of player who we believe has a lot to give us.

The interview ends and he goes and shares a hug with Louis van Gaal.

I suppose all we can ask for today is that this is better than the filth served up in this fixture last year. In case you’ve forgotten, it was the one that Roy Hodgson really, really, really enjoyed and the one that everyone else cried about for a week. Nothing happened.