Manchester United boss Ralf Rangnick has conceded that his side were 'fortunate' to come away with a point against Chelsea at Old Trafford on Thursday night. Cristiano Ronaldo's goal salvaged a draw for the home side after Marcos Alonso had opened the scoring to capitalise on one of the Blues' better performances of late.
Thomas Tuchel's side found greater fluency and cutting edge than they enjoyed against West Ham at the weekend, but struggled to find the net in the opening half as Kai Havertz spurned a number of chances. The Red Devils were able to find their feet slightly following their equaliser and added pressure of their own as the clock ticked down.
It was Reece James who had the best chance of the match, however. The young England international struck the post after Mason Mount laid the ball off with a clever touch and Rangnick admitted that on the balance of play, his side should be happy with their point, despite the quality of Ronaldo's goal.
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The future Manchester United consultant said: "We were fortunate in the first half, we needed some great saves from David again and some last-ditch tackles. I thought in the second half we were better, we had more moments where we could get hold of the ball. We conceded the goal after 16 minutes but we showed a good reaction and scored a brilliant goal with an amazing assist from Nemanja and a finish from Cristiano.
"In the last 20 minutes it was an open game, they could have scored. We were fortunate when Reece James hit the post. We also had our moments, Cristiano could have scored another one or two goals. Overall we have to admit we were fortunate to get the point but the reaction we showed in the second half was good."
The Blues were able to strengthen their side as Tuchel opted for James and Antonio Rudiger to return following their injuries, and Rangnick highlighted the difference in Chelsea's squad compared to his own. Rangnick was without the likes of Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Fred for the clash and named two goalkeepers on his bench, as well as youngsters Hannibal Mejbri, Shola Shoretire and Alvaro Fernandez. In contrast, the Blues were able to call upon Romelu Lukaku, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from their own.
Rangnick added: "Again, our bench today with the bench Chelsea have and the first XI that they have... this is not an excuse, just an explanation, and yes, right now we very much rely on Cristiano. He also showed good performance when Chelsea were in possession, he helped a lot in the second half defensively.
"I have already told you in one of the press conferences a couple of weeks ago. There has to be a focus on bringing in a couple of new strikers, that is for sure."
