Paul Scholes rubbishes Thomas Tuchel’s claim Chelsea vs Man United stalemate was ‘high quality’

Paul Scholes suggested Thomas Tuchel ‘was watching a different game’ after the Chelsea manager said Sunday’s goalless draw with Manchester United was ‘high quality’.

The two sides played out an underwhelming contest at Stamford Bridge which leaves United 12 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City and Chelsea still outside the top four.

Both sides created a handful of chances and United felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Callum Hudson-Odoi handballed inside his own box.

Former United midfielder turned pundit Paul Scholes was less than impressed by the contest

Referee Stuart Attwell dismissed their appeals after watching replays on the pitchside VAR monitor. 

This led to United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claiming that Chelsea’s website had ‘influenced referees’ after referring to Harry Maguire ‘surviving VAR reviews’ in previous meetings.

Tuchel, meanwhile, said on Sky Sports: ‘It was a high quality game between two very strong teams. We suffered in the first half but overall it was an even game. In the second half I thought we were really strong.

‘I thought we were closer to winning it, but there was a lot of quality on the pitch. Performance-wise, I’m satisfied. We defended very well in the last line and I’m very happy with that.’

United were enraged after being denied a penalty against Chelsea for handball on Sunday 

Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Greenwood challenged for the ball, which struck their arms

Referee Stuart Attwell went to the monitor but despite the VAR recommendation he stuck with his decision not to award the penalty

But Scholes, who was appearing as a pundit on Premier League productions, begged to differ.

‘I actually think Tuchel was watching a different game on his iPad when he said it was a game full of high quality,’ said the former United midfielder.

‘I didn’t see one bit of quality throughout the game. The number of times players got in good positions but failed with easy passes. Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes…

‘There was quality on the pitch, don’t get me wrong, but did any of them show it? I don’t think they did.’

Tuchel backed Attwell’s decision not to award United a penalty as Hudson-Odoi challenged for the ball with Mason Greenwood.

Bruno Fernandes was kept quiet and was singled out by Scholes for misplacing passes 

United midfielder Scott McTominay also had a poor afternoon, according to Scholes

He said: ‘How can this be intervention, the player in red (Greenwood) plays the ball with the hand and we are checking for penalty? Why does the referee have to see this? 

‘You watch for one second, why does the referee need to see this, he did everything right, I’m glad there was no penalty because that would’ve been worse.’