Firstpost

Two significant things happened in the England Premier League this weekend.

The first was that Manchester United produced a typical Manchester United comeback to wrestle a point away at Chelsea – in a second-half performance bristling with determination and skilful, smart football.

The other was that Luis Suarez, a man who – it has to be said – has sparked an unwelcome tribalism on the terraces, played his first game of football since 26 December, having served an eight-match ban for racial abuse.

Not that the Uruguayan was given an awful lot of time to make an impact at Anfield against an oddly cautious Tottenham side on Monday night.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish opted to start with Dirk Kuyt instead, and the Dutchman repaid his manager’s faith with some heavy first touches and a general lack of finesse.

Suarez was booed raucously by the few thousand Tottenham fans who had travelled to Merseyside as he finally replaced Kuyt with 24 minutes to go. And his first touch was excellent, almost helping carve out an opportunity.

Then, his lack of match fitness betrayed him. A delayed pass to Andy Carroll spoiled a threatening Liverpool break; a free header from close range was guided meekly and directly at Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel. And somewhere in the middle of all that was a horrible kick at Scott Parker’s chest that one would expect to see only in a taekwondo bout.

Referee Michael Oliver had an excellent game and gave Suarez the benefit of the doubt, showing a yellow card (rather than a red one) almost apologetically as he surmised the number seven had been attempting to volley a dropping ball. It was hard to establish the level of intent.

Tottenham defended brilliantly at times. In addition, Friedel saved well from a Martin Kelly drive, and Carroll showed poor technique when smacking a half-volley over the bar.

But despite enjoying enough possession to make Alexander the Great blush, Liverpool could have lost the match when Gareth Bale broke free towards the end. The Welsh winger, in a strangely uncertain performance, hit his shot straight at Pepe Reina, and the result was a 0-0 stalemate.

So Liverpool are still four points, rather than a tantalising two, away from a Champions League spot that should really be theirs based on player expenditure alone.

There had been a very different kind of draw on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

Interestingly, Chelsea and United each had 10 shots on target in their encounter, the same as Liverpool produced. The difference was there were goals, three apiece.

For so long, Chelsea enjoyed themselves, playing an interesting and fluid 4-2-3-1 formation in which Fernando Torres frequently drifted wide to collect the ball – and it made sense, given the propensity of the two wide men behind him,

Daniel Sturridge and Florent Malouda to drift into central positions.

Whether Chelsea dominated United to the extent that a 3-0 lead was a deserved scoreline on 50 minutes was another matter, but what was clear was that the tactical battle between the two managers was overwhelmingly won by Sir Alex Ferguson from that point onwards.

Ferguson’s first move was to throw on Javier Hernandez, and use the Mexican’s blistering pace down the middle – with Wayne Rooney tucked in behind him – to push back Chelsea’s defenders. Danny Welbeck became a left-winger, and with Antonio Valencia surging down the right, United were suddenly a real threat.

But Ferguson needed more, and now utilised Paul Scholes in the middle, as Welbeck switched flanks. Valencia was asked to plug the gap left behind by the substituted defender Rafael and Ryan Giggs now operated on the left wing.

A more composed and more confident Chelsea side could have perhaps withstood the barrage, but many teams have crumbled when United have turned on the after-burners.

Seeing the lead reduced to 3-2, and with 20 minutes to go, Andre Villas-Boas made his only substitution, and it simply conceded even more space, time and possession to United.

Oriol Romeu was the fresh pair of legs for Chelsea, but by plonking him in the centre of the park, Villas-Boas felt the need to push Juan Mata out wide. This placed huge pressure on the young substitute and meant Chelsea could no longer utilise Mata, so often their best player, where he was most effective.

With an air of inevitability, the United equaliser soon followed, Hernandez heading home from a Giggs cross. This was not a perfect weekend for United’s fans, however. Manchester City moved into a two-point lead at the top after a 3-0 win over Fulham.

United’s next match? Only a home game against Liverpool on Saturday, with Suarez surely primed to play from the start. I shouldn’t think for one second that Ferguson will decide to give Patrice Evra, the target of Suarez’s infamous outburst last October, a day off.