Fernando Torres again failed to make an impression against his old side, while his replacement at Liverpool Luis Suarez salvaged a point against Chelsea in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, with the much-maligned John Terry also scoring before being stretchered off.
An English Premier League game that will not exactly go down in history as one of the classics, saw Chelsea go three points behind leaders United, after only managing to pick up a point. Manchester City have moved up to second in the table, following their 2-1 victory over Tottenham, in what was another cagey match Sunday.
Oscar was the first to receive an opportunity, with Eden Hazard slipping his teammate through, after Joe Allen had given the ball away in midfield; however the Brazilian could only fire high from 12 yards out.
After a passage of play, where neither team created any chance of note, the goal came for the home team, and from the skipper who is revered at Stamford Bridge, even if he might not be the most popular person elsewhere.
Terry got clear of his marker Daniel Agger, before powering home a header past Brad Jones in the 20th minute, much to the delight of his teammates and the crowd.
Torres, desperate for a goal and a win against his former club, saw a strike from inside the box saved by Jones, after Hazard had again played the striker in, with the Belgian then firing the rebound wide.
Chances were hard to come by in a forgettable first half, with Liverpool, particularly, poor, unable to create anything going forward as Steven Gerrard and Suarez remained in the periphery of the game.
Terry, near the end of the first half, had to be stretchered off after clattering into Suarez, who could do nothing about it following a shove in the back from Ramires.
The second half saw a much better Liverpool side come out, with the introduction of Suso, seeing the away team create a bit more space. However, it could have been Chelsea who could have stretched their lead, with Torres coming the closest he has come to scoring against his old club. A nicely swung in free kick was headed towards goal by Torres, with keeper Jones making a top-class save to deny the Spaniard.
Liverpool's goal came soon after that chance, off a corner. Jamie Carragher, who started the game for the ill Martin Skrtel, got free at the near post, before nodding it onto the danger area, allowing Suarez, who had slipped clear of Ramires, to head it in from two yards out in the 73rd minute.
Liverpool were looking the more dangerous side now, as Chelsea failed to come to terms to giving away a cheap goal. But despite some good pressure, the much-needed goal never came, with Cech making a timely save in stoppage time to deny Jose Enrique a last-gasp winner.
Chelsea will need to pick themselves up next week after now going without a win for three straight games, as Liverpool, under Brendan Rodgers, start to improve with every match, even if they might still be a long way from challenging the top sides.
Meanwhile, in Sunday's other game at St James' Park, former Newcastle man Kevin Nolan came to haunt his old club, scoring the only goal for West Ham in a 1-0 win.