9 Men Chelsea No Match For United

Chelsea 2 - Manchester United 3
Scorers
Chelsea: Mata (44), Ramires (52)
Manchester United: Luiz (og 3), Van Persie (12), Hernandez (75)

Red Cards
Chelsea: Ivanovic (63), Torres (68)

Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Rafael, Evra, Carrick, Cleverley (Hernandez 65), Young, Valencia, Rooney (Giggs 74), Van Persie

What a farcical game. Referee Clattenburg sent off two Chelsea players and we bearly beat a 9-men Chelsea.

The game started off really well for us. Van Persie smashed a shot into the upright and Luiz turned the rebound into the net. Van Persie got his name on the scoresheet a little later after turning in Valencia's cross.

We played brilliantly and were fully deserved of the two goal advantage. It was a far far cry from the previous games where we started slow and had to claw our way back into the game. But pound for pound, Chelsea is probably the better team and when they finally shook off the shock of conceding two early goals, they started to play the game.

And boy did they play the game. They were so damn good that it was just a matter of time before they got back on level terms. We were left chasing shadows and that's a gross understatement. De Gea was called into action numerous times and he did a masterful job at that.

We were under such enormous pressure that frustration finally got to Rooney as he fouled Hazard right outside our box. From the ensuing freekick, Mata pulled one back for the home team. The half time break did nothing to break the relentless pressure that Chelsea put us under.

On the 52nd minute, Ramires levelled the scores. Kentona and I were left shaking our heads and wondering just how many this rampant Chelsea team would put past our defence. We weren't bad on the night, but they were THAT good. We had looked good for 30 minutes, but once they realised they had a job on their hands and gotten those shock goals off their system, they were, to paraphrase Robert Palmer's hit song, simply irresistable.

Just as the game probably would have gone out of our reach, Van Persie made a spectacular pass that sent Ashley Young off to the races. Ivanovic was possibly a tad bit unlucky to get a red card as he clumsily brought Young down while in the process of avoiding contact. It wasn't a cynical tackle but according to the letter of the law, he was rightfully given his marching orders. Personally, abit of common sense could've helped.

Even with ten men, Chelsea looked like the better team. That was when the game turned on it's head. Evans came into contact with Torres and Torres fell like a sack of potatoes. We feared the worst for Evans but the referee instead gave Torres his second yellow for a dive. Much has been talked about with regards to diving in the previous few weeks and Clattenburg took a stern approach to it today. The replays were non-conclusive and once again I felt a common sense approach could have been the order of the day. If it happened to United, I would have been screaming bloody murder.

You would think that against an opponent with nine men, it would be easy pickings for us, yet it wasn't. It took an offside looking goal by Hernandez to settle the game. Left to chase the game, Chelsea threw caution to the wind and left themselves open at the back, but we just could finish off the game. If anything, Chelsea looked damn threatening when they came forward, but with only nine men, it was just one giant step too much for them.

I'm just glad we won this game to close the gap to a single point. We started off brilliantly but had to ride our luck before everything just went our way. The result was good, the process was bewildering and I'm left worried at how we're going to cope with Arsenal next week.

United Claws Back From The Dead

Chelsea 3 Manchester United 3
Scorers
Chelsea: Evans (og 36), Mata (46), Luiz (50)
Manchester United: Rooney (pen 58, pen 69), Hernandez (84)


Team: De Gea, Rio, Evans, Rafael (Scholes 64), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Young (Hernandez 53), Valencia, Rooney, Welbeck (Park 84)

My word, what a game. Kinda still living the moment. After falling 3-0 down, against a motivated Chelsea team, we had no right to come back into the game, yet we did. Our lads never know what defeat is and we clawed our back to level the game.

Against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was not my idea of a walk in the park. They came in with their pride wounded and a squad decimated by suspensions and injuries and really showed us up by going 3-0 by the 50th minute.

The first came before half time when Sturridge squirmed his way past Evra and his cross was deflected into the net by Evans.

The next two came in quick succession in the second half. Mata fired an unstoppable shot and Luiz added a third when his goal-bound header was deflected in by Rio. Before we even knew what hit us, we were staring down the abyss of a 3 goal deficit. The match should have been dead and buried.

Yet, credit to the team for not hanging their shoulders. They fought and forced the issue. Evra was bundled over in the box  and referee, Howard Webb, pointed to the spot. It looked abit dubious, but we were grasping for straw and would take anything coming our way.

Rooney stepped up, despite missing his last two spot kicks, and put it away. The unlikely comback had started.

Next, it was Welbeck who was felled by Ivanovic in the box and Webb again pointed to the spot despite the protestations of the Chelsea players. This time Rooney sent the ball the other way to close the gap to a single goal.

Cech was in fine form and kept the visitors at bay, but the champions were not to be denied. When Giggs' cross came in on the 84th minute, Hernandez rose the highest to pull the teams level. The comeback was complete.

We had to endure a rather rough patch as Chelsea steamed forward to find the winner but De Gea acquitted himself well with a flurry of fine saves to preserve his tattered reputation.

The game ended with the spoils shared, but it was definitely a case of a point won and not two lost.

We may have dropped some points in the title race, but it was a performance to keep our noisy neighbours in sight and in mind.

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.

United Continues To Haunt Chelsea's Champions League Dreams

Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Hernandez (44), Park (77)
Chelsea: Drogba (77)


Red Card: Ramires (70)


Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, O'Shea, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Nani (Valencia 75), Rooney, Hernandez

That was quite a game and a shame if you missed it.

We started off slow and shaky, giving away possession easily and failing to control the midfield. Ramires, Essien and Lampard were proving a handful and we didn't help ourselves by acting like little schoolgirls on their first date. O'Shea in particular was pretty abysmal, making silly passes and playing teammates into trouble, but he turned it around for the first goal.

While Chelsea had the early dominance, they were woeful in the last third...and I mean truely woeful. If Torres was bad 6 days ago, he was terrible this week. There must be something in the water or the food at Stamford Bridge that doesn't agree with him, coz he's nowhere even close to the Torres that played at Liverpool.

With Chelsea literally firing blanks, it was a matter of time before we had our spell, and boy did we make it count. O'Shea expertly played Giggs down the byline and Giggs ran away from his defender to place the goal on a platter for Hernandez. The goal came almost at the stroke of half time, deflating Chelsea at a crucial period in the game.

Much to my chargin, the second half saw the ineffective Torres replaced by Drogba. The good thing with a 2 goal lead in the tie was that our heads were held high and we were the much better team at that point in time, creating chances while Chelsea struggled to match up.

Ramires found himself carded for the second time when he took Nani's legs away in the 70th min. It should have signaled the end of the game, but we're United and we somehow tried to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

The sending off saw Chelsea find a second wind and they threw caution to the wind and came at us with renewed energy. Drogba found an equalizer with a brilliant individual play after a pass from Essien. At 1-1, all Chelsea needed was another goal to win the tie on away goals.

Earlier in the season, this would have signaled an unlikely cameback by the away team, but United at this stage of the season are made of sterner stuff. Even before Chelsea finished their muted celebrations, they were silenced from this edition of the Champions League by Giggs' quick thinking and Park's quickfire goal.

It was a deserved victory over the two legs and a likely trip to Germany in the next.

The treble dream still lives on, but we're taking it one game at a time, starting with Shitty this weekend.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This One's For Rooney

Chelsea 0 - Manchester United 1
Scorer
Manchester United: Rooney (24)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Rafael (Nani 51), Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Park (Smalling 90), Valencia, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 78)

Going to do a chop chop kalipok one here since it's 4.30am in the bloody morning.

Rant mode on.

First off, Rooney's been banned 2 games for mouthing off at the TV cameras on Saturday after scoring his hattrick. He's appealing it and I wqouldn't be surprised to see it extended by another game for a frivolous appeal. As it stands, he misses this weekend's game against Fulham and the following weekend's FA Cup semis against Shitty.

While I think it's wrong of Rooney to do what he did, I think the punishment is absolutely ridiculous and makes a mockery of common sense. Carragher slides in and rips Nani's legs apart and all he gets is a yellow, while Rooney gets banned for saying something naughty at the height of a passionate game. This is why the FA is run by a bunch of highly strung dicks. And after a wiki-search, I discovered that the current top dick is a David Bernstein, a life-long Shitty fan and their ex-chairman. No wonder Rooney's ban was two games. How convenient!

Bah, rant mode off.

Back to today's game, my what a good result. We not only held Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but we came away with a 1-0 victory. And the goal itself was a beauty to boot.

Carrick's long ball was take down wonderfully by Giggs and his cutback to Rooney was perfectly measured. Rooney side-footed the ball off the post and into the net for the winner.

Chelsea had their moments at the end of the first half when Torres struck the post and Evra cleared off the line.

We allowed Chelsea a healthy amount of possession in the second half but their failed to really make much impact. To say we were comfortable was an understatement. We looked really threatening on the counter.

We had to endure some late drama when Evra brought Ramires down in the box in injury time and were really fortunate that the referee waved play-on. And just before the final whistle, it was Torres' turn to be brought down in the box. Unlike the previous foul, this one was an obvious dive and Torres got a booking for it.

For some reason, Carrick seems to find a phone booth to change into his Superman costume almost everytime we face Chelsea. He had an outstanding game along the evergreen Giggs. Valencia was surprisingly good too, especially when he slotted into right back when Rafael was removed from the game via an injury.

Park did have me worried, especially with his first half performance. He kept losing the ball, but he grew from strength to strength as the game wore on. He eventually redeemed his first half performance with a number of really good tackles both in midfield and defense.

And it's great to see Rio and Vidic back in defense. Together, they kept Chelsea at bay. It's surprising to see just how poor Torres has become since making his move to Chelsea. He was hardly featured in the game and, quite frankly, is turning out to be a colossal waste of money.

Overall it's a superb result. The job's not done yet as we have a second leg in 6 days. Another good performance will see us in the semis facing Schalke who pulled off a shocker last night.

WWE Ref Bodyslams United's Title Bid

Chelsea 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Chelsea: Luiz (54), Lampard (pen 79)
Manchester United: Rooney (30)

Red Card: Vidic (90)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Smalling, O'Shea, Evra (Fabio 81), Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes (Giggs 70), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 70)

To say I'm miffed is a gross understatement. Like Ferguson, I'm fuming mad. Instead of running away with the title, we're now stuck in a dogfight and serverely handicapped by a referee who is more worthless than Rob Styles. At this level of the game, it's shocking that a referee can influence a game this badly and subsequently the outcome of a season.

Martin Atkinson decision not to send David Luiz off, not once, not twice but thrice, was shameful and dastardly. Eventually his decision, or non-decision, resulted in the equalizer scored by Luiz, of course. To compound matters, He gave away a ridiculously soft penalty. Zhirkov ran into Smalling and was rewarded with a spot kick that sealed United's fate.

Against such odds, it was almost impossible to come away with anything from a game like this. But Atkinson wasn't finished with his destruction of United. He produced a diabolical red card to Vidic as the game ended to ensure a tough match up at Anfield over the weekend.

I've seen some piss poor refereeing in my 30 odd years of watching football, but this has to rank up there as probably one of the worst ever. Even the notoriously poor refereeing in the WWE and NBA can't be as blatant as this.

This was one of the rare games that we actually played rather well away from Old Trafford. It's a shame the referee had to spoil it. Of course the conspiracist theorist in me feels that this goes beyond the referee and a larger agenda at work. In part this is also probably a payback for the elbow that Rooney got away with in the midweek where he was lucky not to receive a red.

All that matters now is to look forward to Anfield this weekend. It's going to be tough without Vidic, Rio or even Evans. Looks like we'd be having some problems fielding someone to partner Smalling. Maybe Wes Brown might finally get a look in.

Last but not least, curse you Martin Atkinson!

No Rooney, No Title

Manchester United 1 - Chelsea 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Macheda (81)
Chelsea: Cole (20), Drogba (78)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Scholes (Nani 72), Fletcher (Gibson 86), Park (Macheda 72), Valencia, Giggs, Berbatov

Let's not waste time. Our chances of the title was ruined on Tuesday when we lost Rooney. Accept it and move on.

There was nothing in our play today to suggest otherwise. Nothing at all. We missed Rooney as much as we missed the target.

For a good portion of the game, Chelsea was the better team. They were more organized, and they showed a greater desire to play the ball. Our gameplan was to hoof long balls and hope for the best. In many ways, we looked exactly like the Sunday pub team that I play for. No direction, no pace, no skill. Yup, we were that bad. For a good hour or so, we were painful to watch.

Matters were not made any easier when Joe Cole cheekily redirected Malouda's cross into the net in the 20th minute. Given our play prior to the goal, it was a mountain to climb. Without Rooney to spearhead the attack, our movement was easily read by the Chelsea players.

The second half was much more of the same. We scurried around like headless chickens, while Chelsea marshalled their defense superbly. Berbatov is easily the most useless player on the pitch, followed closely by Giggs. And it's only in that order coz I like Giggs.

The turning point of the game came in when Ferguson finally decided to take his head out of his arse and brought on Nani. Suddenly with 2 bona fide wingers, we began to see daylight in the cracks from the Chelsea defense.

Sadly, instead of a grandstand finale, the linesman (refuse to call that dick a referee's assistant) single-handedly handed the game to Chelsea. Drogba was miles offside when he received the pass and his cannon of a shot sealed the game, and possibly the title, for Chelsea.

Macheda salvaged a consolation but the mountain was just too high for the men in red. 5 Games left and 2 points behind, it seems like the odds are stacked heavily against us. Moreover our run-in looks significantly more difficult with games against City and Spurs, while Chelsea also has Spurs, they have the easy task of playing a hapless Liverpool. Adding to that, we may have to do it without the services of Rooney for a good portion of the way.

Another comment I want to add here. Ferguson probably had his worst tactical game of the season. Not playing Nani from the start was a monumental mistake. It's already an easy task to defend against Berbatov, but it was make easier without having to defend the the left wing. Their defensive gameplan was to concentrate on neutralizing Valencia and they did a credible job there.

The other point of contention was playing Scholes, Giggs and Neville in the same game from the start. In the trio, we had 3 really calcified players trying to run their socks off. As much as I dislike Carrick, I thought having him in the game would have helped matters. As history has shown, for some inexplicable reason, Carrick always has his superman games against them.

This loss has to be on Ferguson. Bad game, bad decisions.

Title Gone? Probably

Chelsea 1 - Manchester United 0
Scorer
Chelsea: Terry (76)

Team: Van der Sar, Brown, Evans, O'Shea, Evra, Fletcher, Anderson (Owen 85), Carrick, Valencia, Giggs (Obertan 85), Rooney

Let's not kid ourselves if we think we're going to win the Premiership 4 years in a row. 3 was already a dream come true and in this game we've been cruelly exposed. No creativity in midfield is going to be our achilles heel this season. Without the sorry Portugese who fled to Spain at the first calling, we've absolutely nothing to show for against a top-tier opponent.

To be fair to the lads who tried hard but just weren't good enough, Chelsea was absolutely shit as well, but that extra bit of quality showed today.

The only silverlining for me was that I hardly spent much time watching this game. I spent half the time at Kentona's stag party trying to look for some nice eye-candy whilst all the United fans around me were burying their heads in despair when Terry rose to head the ball into the net. It helps to be pissed drunk as well.

Now that I'm semi-sober, it's safe to say, the stag party was a major downer. Not only was there a huge lack of boobage, we lost the game as well. A good result in either would have been the sugar to help the medicine go down.

As it stands, not only are we 5 points adrift of the champions-elect, we're lying below Arsenal on goal difference. Barring a major fuckup in Chelsea's season, I cannot see how under god's blue sky we can compete for the title. January can't come quick enough....oh wait, Chelsea's allowed to spend, scratch that.

Couple of notable notes in this game:

- Evans deserves a knighthood. Attempting to blatantly maim Drogba while getting off completely scot-free is awesome. Super awesome.

- Drogba better be nominated for an Oscar this year for his utterly convincing tribute to Edgurdo. I seriously thought he broke all his ribs, punctured both lungs, only for him to return to the game seconds later.

- Referee ought to be shot for missing Terry's foul on Valencia. It would have given us a penalty, which I have no doubts we would miss.

- Referee ought to be shot over and over again for Fletcher's phantom foul on Cashley Cole which resulted in Terry's goal.

- Ferguson is right to complain about the referee but that trick is getting old. We have no imagination in midfield. He knows it, we know it, Chelsea exploited it.

- Why the fuck is Carrick still playing? He's the modern version of Neil Webb. I'm sick of using the word 'rubbish' on him. It's an insult to the word itself.

- At least Obertan looks like a player. It's still too early to tell but maybe, just maybe, we could have done something right and uncovered a gem.

- Seriously, what's the use of sending Owen on for a lost cause?

Back In The Hunt

Manchester United 3 - Chelsea 0
Scorers
Manchester United: Vidic (45), Rooney (63), Berbatov (87)

Team: Van der Sar, Vidic, Evans, Neville, Evra (O'Shea 66), Fletcher, Giggs (Carrick 80), Park, Ronaldo, Berbatov, Rooney

There's been little to cheer about since the turn of the year and our results lately has been some binary code that probably reads 'we can't score' when strung together. But today, we changed all that. In a crucial game against fellow contenders, Chelsea, we signalled our intentions loud and clear, putting 3 past a stout and stingy defence.

This was the performance we've been waiting for. We're still nowhere near our potential, but on this night, we showed the hunger and the spirit that has been missing for the last few months. Park was outstanding, along with Giggs and Evra deserving honourable mentions. Rooney had that mean streak in him and Ronaldo actually looked a little like the Ronaldo of last season.

Rio's presence wasn't missed at all with Evans proving to be a more than able deputy. Vidic, as usual was a man-mountain. And not to spoil my own mood, I wouldn't even rant on Berbatov, who was still in Carrick mode. Strangely enough, even he turned up for the party before the end of the game and scored a pretty good goal late in the game.

The great thing about this result is that we've closed the gap to Liverpool to within 5 points with 2 games in hand. For once I feel we have our destiny in our own hands. What makes this result sweeter is that I personally think that our two closest rivals, Liverpool and Chelsea, are nowhere near our playing standards. Pretty evidently from today's result Chelsea is not in the same class this year.

As for our other dreaded rivals, Liverpool, they have a manager who will lose them the title. Yesterday against a physical Stoke team, he threw out a feather weight team which lost all the physical contests, while setting his top goal-getters, Torres and Keane on the bench. And add to the fact he's kinda lost the plot this early in the season with a Keegan-patented Fergie rant to the media. Gotta luv it when opponents lose the plot in a mega way.

I doubt we're good enough nor deep enough to compete on all fronts at the moment, but retaining the Premiership title looks like an attainable goal. We just need to keep up the hunger and the aggression. Time for the other teams to quiver in our wake.

United Lets Lead Slip....Again

Chelsea 1 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Chelsea: Kalou (80)
Manchester United: Park (19)

Team: Van der Sar (Kuszczak 33), Rio, Evans, Neville, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo 55), Park (O'Shea 75), Hargreaves, Rooney, Berbatov

We are a frustrating team to watch. This game was almost a carbon copy of the one at Anfield a week ago. The only saving grace was that the team put out today had alot more fight in them and we came away with something.

We started the game well and shackled a poor Chelsea team. It helped tremendously that Deco was pulled out of the starting lineup and replaced by Michael 'always the bridesmaid but never the bride' Ballack. We deservedly went into the lead after some strong running by Evra. His cut back found Babertov and his weak shot was spilled by Cech, only for Park to put us in the lead with a tap in. It was a lead we thoroughly deserved.

Yet instead of building on it, we allowed Chelsea to come into the game. It didn't help when Van der Sar was a bundle of nerves again, spilling the ball whenever it came to him. The entire team, fed on the frailties from the back, started to play tentative football. It was only by a stroke of luck that Van der Sar was replaced on the half hour by an injury. Kuszczak, though not the best keeper around, was a world and a half better than Van der Sar. At least we kept Chelsea at bay till half time, better than we fared a week earlier.

The second half was all Chelsea, as we tried to hold on to the lead. We looked half the team that was in the first half. Berbatov completely disappeared from the game and Scholes was giving the ball away in midfield. In short, we were baring our butts for the rentboys.

On the 80th minute, the inevitable happened. Rooney gave away a needless freekick in midfield and the resultant kick allowed Chelsea to equalize. Our defence was caught napping and Kalou was left totally unmarked to head the ball home.

It was a disappointing result, but nonetheless expected given how we played after taking the lead. We were probably even lucky to escape with a point.

On Tuesday, we should be fielding our kids against Boro in the Mickey Mouse Cup. Maybe the kids would perform better than their more senior counterparts.

Champions Of Europe - United Wins Spot Kick Thriller

Manchester United 1 - Chelsea 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Ronaldo (26)
Chelsea: Lampard (45)

Penalties: Manchester United 6 - Chelsea 5

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Brown (Anderson 119), Evra, Scholes (Giggs 87), Carrick, Hargreaves, Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani 102), Tevez

What a thrilling, yet cruel end to the game. It almost mirrored 99's victory in terms of drama. And not to mention, a fitting and well-deserved tribute to Munich.

As expected the game started in the most nervous fashion for both teams. Kudos to Fergie for playing a 4-4-2, throwing our best eleven into the fray, even though the team seriously lacked the cutting edge and imagination for most parts.

The opening 20 or so minutes was all about both sets of defenses cancelling out the attacking play. In that time, Scholes earned a booking and a bloodied nose for a terrible challenge on Mekelele. Both Kentona and I feared the worst when we saw the amount of blood, but Scholes soldiered on.

And it was Scholes' good interplay with Brown that produced the opening goal. Seemingly cornered down on the right flank, Scholes played a brilliant one-two with Brown, etching out space for Brown to cross. Mesmerised by the sweet play, Essien failed to challenge Ronaldo who headed the ball into the net, giving us a 1-0 lead.

United had the goal advantage, and it calmed us down considerably. We began to play our brand of imaginative football and proceeded to tear Chelsea down. Both Tevez and Carrick forced an outstanding double save from Cech, after Rooney had set Ronaldo free down the left flank.

Then Rooney's cross from the right byline nearly resulted in another goal had Tevez had a touch to it. Chelsea were hanging on by the skin of their teeth.

But our missed opportunities came back to haunt us when right at the stroke of half time, Chelsea found the equalizer against the run of play. A long range shot deflected off Vidic and then caromed off Rio, only to find the feet of Lampard. And he brought the teams levelled going into the break.

Chelsea came into the second half a different team. They were sharper to the loose balls and slightly better coming forward. We had lost all the momentum built in the first half and for brief periods in the half hanging on, only to be saved by some dodgy refereeing.

Drogba curled a shot that had Van der Sar stranded, only for it to rebound off the post. Thankfully, that was all Chelsea could muster. Both teams played out a dull second half.

Extra-time provided slightly more drama. Three minutes into added time, the woodwork once again came to United's rescue when Lampard was given time to turn in the box and dig the ball onto the crossbar.

Eight minutes later, Evra burst into Chelsea's penalty area and cut the ball back to Giggs. With Cech already commited, Gigg's goal-bound shot was saved off the line by Terry.

Yet more drama was in store. Just before the game was to go into penalties, Tevez got into a tussle with Ballack, resulting in mayhem with both sets of players coming together for a pre-penalty orgy. Somehow in the mess of bodies, the referee spotted Drogba giving Vidic a token slap in the face. He had little choice but to produce the red and off went Drogba.

Unfortunately there was little time to capitalise on the man advantage. Not that it really mattered. Both sides had already settled for penalties, moreover bodies were just falling over with cramps in the cold Russian rain.

Kentona and I, spending the night watching from a coffeshop in the neighbourhood, were cursing our luck. We just didn't enjoy the fact we were going into penalties. History has shown that Lady Luck rarely favoured us in the shoot-out. Moreover we felt that we had used up a fair amount of it when the woodwork came to our rescue....twice....in the game.

Tevez *scored*
Ballack *scored*
Carrick *scored*
Belletti *scored*
Ronaldo *missed*

Ronaldo had the third penalty saved, and at this point in time, we thought that that was it. We were going to lose it. I could barely watch the rest of the penalties.

Hargreaves *scored*
A. Cole *scored*
Nani *scored*

It was down to Chelsea's last penalty taker, John Terry. If he scores, the cup is Chelsea's. This was barely watchable.

Terry *missed*

Van der Sar dived the wrong way. Yet for some reason, Terry slipped and his spot kick hit the upright. Once again the woodwork came to our rescue. Against all odds, Lady Luck graced us with her presence when it mattered most. Incredible stuff! The whole coffeeshop breathed a collective sigh of relief but the tension was still hanging high in the air. It was down to sudden death and still barely watchable for those with weak hearts.

Anderson *scored*
Kalou *scored*

Once again, we're dead even.

Giggs *scored*
Anelka *missed*

Van der Sar dived the right way and made his first and his only save of the night. All hell broke loose, in Moscow, Manchester and a tiny coffeeshop in Singapore. The Chelsea players slumped to the ground in despair, while the United players celebrated in pure jubilation.

Just as in 99, I had to pinch myself. The feeling was surreal. We didn't play well on the night, yet somehow we won it all. Penalties are a cruel cruel way to settle a game, but I'm not complaining....not tonight anyway. For the third time in our history, we're Champions of Europe.

United Pays The Price Of Pussying Out

Chelsea 2 - Manchester United 1
Scorers
Chelsea: Ballack (45, pen 85)
Manchester United: Rooney (57)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic (Hargreaves 14), Brown, Silvestre, Carrick, Fletcher, Anderson (O'Shea 65), Nani, Giggs, Rooney (Ronaldo 63)

What a disgusting way to play. Fergie has completely lost the plot, playing 4-5-1 again. Despite all the talk of taking the game to Chelsea, we slumped over and allowed Chelsea to take it up our arse. If we were going to puss out of this game, we might as well not show up and save Vidic and Rooney their injuries.

Once again we played scared and allowed Chelsea free rein all over the park. Instead of a predator going for the jugular, we played the role of the lamp waiting for the slaughter. With a full 90 minutes of practise against Barcelona in midweek, we were went one better and actually lost this game.

We were under so much pressure that Vidic had to risk putting his head to Drogba's knee early in the game. He suffered a possible concussion and a a few good teeth for his efforts. Someone should have sent him the final script before hand, then maybe he wouldn't have needed to risk so much for a fruitless exercise.

It was just a matter of time before Chelsea scored. And score they did, right at the half time whistle. Ballack rose unmarked and headed the ball beyond VDS. The defense was in shambles, but at the rate Chelsea were banging on the door, it was just a matter of time before they broke through.

Despite being one down, the second half wasn't much better. Chelsea always looked the likelier team to add to the scoreline. We were honestly shit. Anderson and Silves were the probably the only people on the pitch who actually cared about the scoreline. Rooney was suffering a hip injury and was signalling to the bench for help. Everyone else would have done just as well not to turn up.

Yet against the run of play, we equalized. Somehow Rooney latched onto a poor backpass and hit the ball past Cech, while still suffering from the hip injury. It was a beautifully taken goal, but make not mistake, it was a gift from Chelsea. We never looked close to scoring before then.

With a draw on the cards, Fergie went back to wuss mode, not that he really switched away from. He took off Rooney for Ronaldo, and Anderson for O'Shea (?!?!!?!?).

Chelsea on the other hand brought on Anelka and Shevchenko. And they reaped their reward when Carrick handled the ball in the area, his only notable contribution to the game. It was debatable if it was a penalty, but it really didn't matter. We simply didn't deserve anything from this game. Ballack stepped up and won Chelsea the game.

There was a generous amount of last minute goal mouth action as we tried to do too little too late. There was even time for a fracas on the pitch between the players both on and off the pitch. WTF was it all about didn't really concern me. What mattered was that we played like pussies and got fucked exactly where it hurt.

More damning is that after all the criticisms of Arsenal bottling it, we're not much better. The only difference is that we have the players to actually win games, whereas our manager and his ASSistant were busy gift wrapping the trophies to the opponents.

I'm finding it more and more difficult to have faith in Fergie's decisions. He's pussed out one too many times this season. Many times we got lucky and came away with a result. Lyon, Barcelona, Liverpool, Spurs, just to name a few. Even again lesser opponents like Blackburn and Boro, we were lucky to come away with something.

What makes this result worse is that the remaining two games we have are by no means done deals. We face West Ham at home, and we all know throughout the years, just what a jinx they are. Then we face Wigan away on their terrible pitch. Because of the state of their pitch, they've come away with the scalps of some big guns.

I'm absolutely not keen to face Barcelona this Tuesday. Strangely a part of me is actually wishing we crash out to save the embarassment of losing to either Chelsea or Liverpool in the finals.

Other game notes:

Nani - Woefully selfish. How the fuck he remained on the pitch instead of Anderson is beyond me. All our break-aways were single-handedly undone by him. He has the potential to be a great player, but it's going to take a long long time for that to happen. I'm willing to give him 3 years, afterall it took Ronaldo took 3 years to be the player he is now.

Anderson - Possibly our best player on the pitch today. He's the only one who stood toe to toe with the Chelsea midfield. Everyone else paled in comparison to his industry.

Van der Sar - Same story as last season. Somehow towards the end of the season, his kicking just goes to the dumps. It gave us nervous moments although it didn't hurt us in today's game, but it's certainly something to look out for in the next few games.

Carrick - What can I say? I didn't even notice that he was on the pitch until the penalty incident. Looks like Invisibleman is back.

United Piles on the Blues (Manchester United 2 - Chelsea 0)

There was plenty to celebrate this week. We won away in Europe, Moanrinho left Chelsea, Tevez scores his first goal, we score two in a match (finally), we beat Chelsea, we climb above Pool and we finally found a referee worse than Rob Styles (not an easy feat!).

With the exception of that one night in Barcelona, I can't think of a happier way to end the week.

To be truthful, I had a bad feeling about today's game. Today's game was the classic game in which we usually screw up. For the first 30 minutes I felt that my worst fears were close to realisation, Chelsea was probably the better team despite all their on and off field troubles. They were taking the game to us in our own backyard.

Then incredibly, referee Mike Dean showed a straight red card to Obi Mikel for a foul on Evra. It was harsh, and the replay suggested so as well.....but I'm not complaining. It changed the complexion of the game. Chelsea settled to defend deep while we forayed forward. Our attacks still lacked the cutting edge but we were eventually rewarded with our persistence with a Tevez goal deep into the first half injury time.

Chelsea was poor in the second half. With Brown and Evra having outstanding games, we withstood everything the ten-men team threw at us (which really wasn't very much). Saha, who replaced Tevez, scored a dubious penalty (awful refereeing again) in injury time to end the second half the way the first ended.

The game wasn't pretty but we were competent in containing Chelsea, especially after they were down to 10. Brown, Evra and Carrick should be singled out as outstanding performers. Any attempt by Chelsea to come forward was stopped by them.

It has been a long week and Fergie has the opportunity to rest players this week when we face Coventry in the Mickey Mouse Cup in midweek. It should keep the players fresh when they play Birmingham in the weekend.

Van der Sar Heroics Standout In Pentalty Shootout (Chelsea 1 - United 1) *United wins 3-0 on Penalties

Thanks to Van der Sar's three saves, United won 3-0 on penalties to take the Charity Shield.

The game itself was a vast improvement from the dull FA Cup finals at the same venue just a couple of months or so back. At least there was more action and, more importantly, there were goals.

Evra was surprisingly a delight to watch when he was fielded at left wing. He constantly got behind the Chelsea backline and was instrumental in providing Giggs with the opening goal. He's got plenty of attack instincts and put them to good use whenever he's played on the left wing. Unfortunately when Silves was replaced by Nani in the second half, he reverted back to the bumbling fool in left back and was constantly beaten by Wright-Phllips. To be fair, Silves didn't fair too well against the same opponent either. Yup, we still need a left back.

The lead given to us by Giggs didn't last the half when Malouda powered past both Brown and Rio from the right wing and shot a beautiful ball into the goal right at half time.

United started off the second half in strong fashion but failed to capitalize on their chances. As the game got on, Chelsea gradually grew in strength and defensive discipline, cancelling out United's superior fire power. Goalmouth action was at a premier and the game fittingly ended in a draw.

Van der Sar steped up and saved 3 consecutive penalties in the shootout, winning us our first silverware of the season. Although it's an inconsequential result but the win is all about getting the psychological edge over our opponents in the 9 months ahead and putting the right foot forward in a long journey.

Meaningless Draw (Chelsea 0 - Manchester United 0)

With the title already in the bag, United fielded a virtually reserve side. Chelsea, too, took the opportunity to field some new faces.

The game itself was uninspiring, unimpressive and, at times, unwatchable. Having to catch it at 3am made it almost unbearable. Just as well nothing much happened in the opening 45 minutes, as I was nodding off a number of times, missing most of the action anyway.

The second half was a slightly better affair, or should I say a more heated contest. The first 15 minutes was peppered with bad fouls and deserved yellow cards dished out.

United were denied a penalty, and probably just as well. Can you imagine the incensive moaning we'd have to face from Moanrinho for the next couple of weeks if it was given?

Chelsea ended the game strongly, forcing good saves from Kuszczak and a couple of goalline clearances. In the end, a dull draw was probably the best result in a meanless match.

Selected Player Performance

Kieran Lee - Not a bad debut. Did well in right back and made a goalline clearance.

Dong Fangzhou - He's going to have to step up big time to convince me he's not a token Chinese player in the squad. Marketing aside, I don't think he did very much on the pitch. In his defense, there was no service whatsoever.

Chris Eagles - The most impressive of the 3 debutant starters. Hungry and aggressive, although did show signs of rashness.

Alan Smith - Played in midfield and it showed.

Wes Brown - Outstanding in defence. Don't think he put a foot wrong. He's still my perfect complement for the central pairing with Vidic.

Tomasz Kuszczak - Kept a cleansheet, keeping out the late Chelsea surge. Did look uneasy from crosses and fumbled once. Overall, still a good performance. Should be interesting to our keeper situation next season when Ben Foster returns.

Ronaldo Makes Bolton His Personal Bitch In Rout (Manchester United 4 - Bolton 1)

I wasn't around to watch this game and could only rely on the ever reliable Ah Hong to keep me updated with a string of SMSes. This is the first League game I've missed this season, ending my personal endeavor to catch every League game live this season. Well, there's always next season to look forward to.

Anyway from the smses I've gathered that Ronaldo once again had Bolton's number and was once again running riot. For anyone who remembers, Ronaldo made his debut against Bolton, and he too had run circles around the Bolton defence.

We scored got a couple of goals from both Park and Rooney, and Bolton got a consolation from the spot when Vidic fouled a Bolton player in the box. It's a shame I had to miss this game.

Despite our mounting injury problems (add Neville to the list), we still managed to win to keep Chelsea at bay. Speaking of Chelsea, they've been pretty darn resilent themselves. With all the on-field and off-field problems, spats, injuries, contract issues and playing piss poor, they too have somehow etched out results to keep within striking distance in case we falter.

At the end of the day, I suppose we really shouldn't bother about how Chelsea does, and concentrate on doing our jobs. Next up is the FA Cup replay against Boro, before we take a break for the internationals.