United Comes Up Tops In A Game Of Missed Chances

Manchester United 3 - Chelsea 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Smalling (8), Nani (37), Rooney (45)
Chelsea: Torres (46)


Team: Jones, Evans, Smalling (Valencia 62), Evra, Fletcher, Anderson (Carrick 62), Young, Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 79)

We won our 5th consecutive game and took the top spot in the table after Shitty dropped points despite being 2-0. This wasn't a classic encounter in the attacking sense, but it definitely was an exciting one with play switching from one end of the pitch to the other in the blink of an eye. What stood out were the extrodinary number of misses from point blank range from both sets of players.

We started off poorly, continuing our poor play in midweek against Benfica. Chelsea were all over us right from kickoff and were quite unlucky to be 1-0 down by the 8th minute. Young's freekick from the right found Smalling in an offside position. The linesman didn't flag and Smalling obliged the Old Trafford crowd by nodding it into the net.

It was follwed by intense pressure from Chelsea which De Gea acquitted himself well with a couple of great saves. It gave confidence to a shaky backline and we slowly but surely built on it. Nani doubled the lead with a stunning individual goal.

Rooney added a third at the death of the first half with an easy pass into the net. We were up and comfortable with a 3 goal lead going into the half. We didn't play particularly well, but we took our chances while Chelsea fluffed their lines in front of goal.

The second half started off with a bang when Torres collected Anelka's wonderful pass and lifted it over De Gea. For a moment it looked like the Torres from Liverpool had returned. He looked lively and was really giving our defense fits. He should have added a second when he rounded De Gea with the empty net to aim at, but he returned to form and inexplicably missed the open target.

At the other end, Rooney too fluffed his line from the spot. Instead of celebrating a second goal, he slipped at the last second and sent the penalty over and wide, ala Beckham.

Berbatov also got into the act as the game was winding down. One on one with the keeper, Rooney elected to pass to Berbatov in an open position. Thepass was wretched and Berbatov could only weakly poke it into Ashley Cole.

It was a game of very badly missed chance from both sides, but we came out top despite not looking anywhere near our best. Andy Cole would have been proud of the effort put in by both sides.