For a spell in the second half at Old Trafford yesterday, Chelsea had Manchester United exactly where they wanted them.
1 - 0 up and with the threat of more goals on the counter-attack, Blues manager Jose Mourinho decided to shut up shop by bringing on John Obi Mikel to sit beside Nemenja Matic.
As we saw, Man United were able to peg Chelsea back in injury time. But Pat Nevin told Off The Ball that Mourinho was not wrong to try and close down the game because he did not have the threat of Diego Costa available to him.
"[Drogba] was running out of energy. He was running on empty at that point in time. When Oscar was booked, moments later he felt he had to take him off," said Pat, who believes Mourinho will be more adventurous with his team this season in comparison to last season.
Pat also said that he has not seen Marouane Fellaini as "the hopeless player" that he is sometimes viewed as, as the Belgian enjoys a renaissance in the Manchester United team.
And he believes that Louis Van Gaal is still top of his game tactically and reiterated his belief that United will finish in the Top 4.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.