Wayne Rooney brought Manchester United a precious minimal lead over Chelsea on Wednesday night at the Stamford Bridge. The Devils beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side 1-0 thanks to striker’s superb goal. The Blues are now one step out of the semi finals, realizing that the Old Trafford clash is expected to be much more difficult for the Blues who has beaten Alex Ferguson’s squad three times in a row in domestic confrontations.
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As for United, they have always proved to be the better side in the non-domestic meetings with the Blues. And this hasn’t changed yet. The Devils was the better side on Stamford despite Chelsea’s 54% possession and their seven shots one target. United dominated the middle, thing which, according to Sir Alex Ferguson, proved to be the most important detail.
Chelsea got their first chance early in the second minute through Torres. Blues’ combinative action finished with Spaniard’s penetration through two defenders, but also with his diving inside the box. Essien was one step from being booked after taking Rooney down in the middle. Chelsea’s first big opportunity came in the 20th minute through Drogba. An individual exquisite found the Ivorian thundering an astonishing shot which Van der Saar tipped away in the end.
Almost against the game way, Rooney brought the opening four minutes later. Carrick’s long distance cross met Giggs on the left, beating Bosingwa and feeding Rooney perfectly around the penalty area. An amazing first touch from the striker found Petr Cech beaten into the far post. Blues’ first reply came in the 34th minute. Lampard played Torres in good position, but the Spaniard was knocked to the ground and fought by Ferdinand in what must have been a diving.
Chelsea conceded their second yellow one minute later through Zhirkov who has been cautioned for a dangerous high boot on Hernandez. A back-to-back action found Ivanovic missing a great opportunity inside the box and Hernandez heading a ball wide from good position. Lampard mocked the biggest chance of the night with one minute left of the first half. Torres’s short deflection hit the post, but the rebounded ball reached unmarked Lampard whose close range volley hit Evra on the line in what should have been an easy formality for the midfielder.
The second half stared almost the same as the first one. Chelsea were the first to put pressure on Van der Sar’s net. The 51st minute highlighted Ramires heading the ball just wide to his own dismay. The first substitution of the night came in the 54th minute as Ferguson replaced injured Rafael with Nani. Rooney scored a second goal, but the referee disallowed the goal for an offside position.
Drogba, who was chasing his first goal, froze the stadium through a bicycle kick which went just inches wide from nine yards. Ramires picked his first yellow in the 60th minute for a painful foul on Evra. Torres, who is still looking for his first goal at Chelsea, missed another great chance in the 75th minute, but Spaniard’s header has been saved by the Dutch veteran.
With ten minutes left, both Carlo Ancelotti and Alex Ferguson made two changes. The Italian replaced Bosingwa with Mikel, while the Scott introduced Premiership top-scorer Berbatov for Hernandez. The game finished with a pretty controversial situation which found Evra taking down Ramires inside the box and the referee letting the game go on. 1-0 and United approach another big success in the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea – Cech; Cole, Terry, Ivanovic, Bosingwa; Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Zhirkov; Drogba, Torres. Reserves: Y. Benayoun, N. Anelka, F. Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, R. Turnbull, S. Kalou, J. Mikel.
Manchester United – Van der Sar; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra; Giggs, Park, Carrick, Valencia; Rooney, Hernandez. Reserves: Nani, D. Gibson, P. Scholes, T. Kuszczak, D. Berbatov, C. Smalling, J. Evans.
