Match ratings: Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United

In the battle of fifth against thirteenth, Manchester United could have come away with all three points, but eventually had to settle for one. How did the players get on? Glad you asked ...

David de Gea: 8

Tidy for most of the game, genuinely excellent on at least three occasions, and blameless for Chelsea's goal. At some point we'll give up trying to find variations on that sentence and just default to writing "Yep, David de Gea".

Matteo Darmian: 6

Looked thoroughly decent in United's dominant opening half-hour, as close to his early-season form as he's come since. Van Gaal has occasionally received criticism for the conservatism with which his fullbacks have played, but both Darmian and Borthwick-Jackson on the other side played aggressively and stretched Chelsea.

Chris Smalling: 6

The usual stuff: individual assertiveness within an occasionally shaky defensive unit. Doesn't appear to have let that penalty a couple of weeks ago put him off grappling at corners, which is either encouraging or worrying depending on the state of your nerves.

Daley Blind: 5

When it comes to assigning blame for Chelsea's goal, we'd have been minded to let Blind — who read the pass, pushed up, then slipped over — off, even though he blamed himself after the game and said a naughty word on the BBC. Ah well. Made a lovely save from John Terry in the first half, which was amusing.

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson: 5

Not always comfortable against Willian, but hey, he's a child. Being a fullback is as much about timing as anything else — when to overlap, when to stay, when to track back — and he seems to have that sorted. Simultaneously partly at fault and a touch unlucky for Chelsea's goal: though he didn't step up with the rest of the defence, he did get across to make the recovery tackle ... only for that tackle to take the ball around De Gea.

Marouane Fellaini: 5

In the absence of any real idea as to the causes of things (see below), we'll stick to the basic facts: Manchester United's best form of the season has come with Marouane Fellaini in the team as a central midfielder.

Michael Carrick: 5

It's also come with Carrick back in the midfield. At this advanced stage in his career, his worth is almost entirely contingent on the passing options available to him, and having two well-advanced fullbacks plus two quick sort-of wingers clearly suits him.

Jesse Lingard: 7

We didn't know that he could score goals like that. We're not sure he did. And beyond that, United are a better team for his pace and versatility: he starts on the wing, but he plays everywhere.

Juan Mata: 5

A couple of tidy moments and eye-pleasing touches, though as ever he can get crowded out by a physical midfield. Unfortunately for him, midfields don't come much more physical than Jon Obi Mikel and Nemanja Matic.

Anthony Martial: 6

Between his dribbling ability and Rooney's return to competence, Martial is now established out wide, and Branislav Ivanovic won't be in any hurry to see him again. Looked exceptional for the first half hour, bringing an excellent save from Thibaut Courtois, then faded a touch as United did likewise.

Wayne Rooney: 5

So, so much better with a couple of quick players running beyond him. It's probably too late in his career for Rooney to turn in regular performances as The Complete Lone Striker, and his propensity (or instructions) to come deep can leave United looking light in the box. But after the steaming mess of the first half of the season, he's now at least worth his place in the team. (Which is handy, since he keeps it regardless.)

Morgan Schneiderlin: 5

That Schneiderlin is a better footballer in every respect than Marouane Fellaini is, we venture to suggest, a matter of scientific fact. That United's upturn in form has come with Schneiderlin on the bench and Fellaini in the middle must therefore be a grand scientific mystery, like where belly button fluff comes from, or that thing with the cat.

Memphis Depay: 4

Quite why Memphis came on before Ander Herrera is a matter for the innermost workings of Louis van Gaal's mind, but we have absolutely no idea what he, an almost purely attacking footballer, was supposed to add. That said, the determination of some to blame him for Chelsea's goal — yes, his pass was terribly poor, but the ball subsequently travelled, at no great pace, up the field and through the middle of United's defence — is evidence that the stick he's getting is curdling into something personal. Young kids deserve time, even if they come with sizeable price tags and reputations, and even if they like to buy silly cars.

Ander Herrera: ???

Miss you.