Jose Mourinho welcomed Belgian Fellaini back into the first-team fold following a month off with injury.
Fellaini started the match on the bench but was introduced with half an hour to go in a bid to rescue a point.
The midfielder had a big impact on the game but not necessarily for the better.
[I want] the chance to praise Fellaini for the unbelievable effort that he made
Jose Mourinho
He received a booking shortly after coming on for an elbow on Alvaro Morata before almost gifting Chelsea a second goal when he gave the ball away to Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Fellaini mis-placed several passes before missing a key chance in the dying moments as Thibaut Courtois denied him.
But his performance still went down well with Mourinho - who thanked the 29-year-old for his efforts at full-time.
GETTY
Marouane Fellaini picked up a yellow card shortly after coming on
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"[I want] the chance to praise Fellaini for the unbelievable effort that he made," Mourinho said.
"He trained only yesterday for the first time and made himself available and tried to help the team today so it’s important for me to thank him."
United now sit eight points behind league leaders Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's side recorded a 3-1 win over Arsenal earlier in the day.
