The ReDevils || Manchester United blog fans

United and Chelsea deserved to share the points on Sunday, according to Reds boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

“In football terms, I think we certainly deserved a point,” he told MUTV. “That said, I think in some ways it was a point gained – we didn’t know what was going to happen on that pitch with so many free-kicks being awarded around the edge of the box. I was starting to worry.”

It’s no wonder the manager was fretting. Referee Mike Riley was particularly whistle-happy at the Bridge, awarding 35 free kicks (19 against the Reds, 16 against Chelsea) and handing out eight yellow cards (seven to United).

“I don’t want to get into that,” Sir Alex said. “All I’ll say is that the match went out around the world and I think some people will be wondering what was going on.

“I didn’t think there was one bad tackle in the game.”

After a feeble performance at Anfield last weekend, Sir Alex was pleased in midweek with United’s performance against Spanish side Villarreal. At Chelsea, too, the boss found there was much to take heart from.

“I think we played with great tempo to our game, particularly in the first 20 minutes. We played some excellent football.

“If there is a criticism of us today, then we didn’t go for the jugular when we were 1-0 up and in complete control. We eased off and allowed Chelsea to regroup at half-time.”

Injuries forced Sir Alex to hand Jonny Evans a Premier League debut and pick Gary Neville for his first league start since March 2007. Ji-sung Park and Owen Hargreaves were also included from kick-off after impressing in their first starts of the season in midweek.

“I’m very happy with how Gary Neville and Jonny Evans played,” the boss confirmed. “I think they’ve all done well. There were a couple of moments where Joe Cole got free – once in the first half and once in the second half – but I think we defended quite well.

“We maybe lost a little energy towards the end of the game because we’ve still got a few players, like Berbatov, Hargreaves, Park, Ronaldo and Neville who haven’t played all that much football recently.

“They started to tire a little and that allowed Chelsea to break on a few occasions when we should have kept possession of the ball. But everyone worked hard on a hot day.”

United clinched a valuable point at Stamford Bridge but, having taken the lead through Ji-sung Park, could have snatched all three points were it not for slack marking from a Chelsea free-kick, allowing Salomon Kalou to grab a late equaliser.

The match followed a similar pattern to United’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool in that the Reds took the lead before the home side became the more dominant force. However, this was an infinitely better performance than the one at Anfield. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have not yet reached top form, but with players gradually returning from injury and suspension, this must seen this as a point gained and the team can kick on from here.

Sir Alex chose not to use Cristiano Ronaldo from the start, who instead settled for a place on the bench, as did Carlos Tevez, who stepped aside for Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney to occupy United’s forward roles. Owen Hargreaves and Ji-sung Park started out wide, while Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes took on central midfield duties. There was also a huge gesture of faith in the burgeoning ability of Jonny Evans, who deputised for the suspended Nemanja Vidic at centre-half alongside Rio Ferdinand.

It’s been a smooth-running start to the season for Chelsea, but Luiz Felipe Scolari had the disruption of injury to Deco during the warm-up. Michael Ballack, who scored twice against United at Stamford Bridge back in April, was promoted from the bench.

The Reds immediately took the game by the scruff of the neck. Darren Fletcher, United's top scorer this term, made one of his perfectly-timed runs into and saw his volley from Hargreaves’ cross go narrowly wide.

Rooney went close two minutes later. After Cech’s failed clearance and Berbatov’s wayward attempted lob, Rooney tried to hook the ball in but it too went just wide. But then it was Chelsea’s turn to threaten. Joe Cole got away with what appeared to be handball before hitting the side-netting with his shot from 20 yards.

United were full of attacking intent during a high-tempo start. Ferdinand hit the woodwork on 16 minutes when Rooney put him through on the right of the penalty area. Cech got a crucial touch to tip the defender’s shot onto the bar and over.

Two minutes later, however, the breakthrough United deserved arrived. A great passing interchange between Berbatov, Rooney and Patrice Evra set the Frenchman free down the left. His cut-back enabled Berbatov to force a save out of Cech, but the Chelsea keeper spilled the ball, allowing Park to poke his shot home.

As against Liverpool, the 1-0 lead was just. But, as at Anfield, the tide soon turned in the home side’s favour. Chelsea’s possession and goalscoring chances increased after half an hour. United lost Edwin van der Sar to injury after a clash with Florent Malouda in a 50-50 one-on-one. The Dutchman's replacement, Tomasz Kuszczak, was tested a few times as Chelsea pressed forward. But United held firm in a first-half full of action and incident.

Chelsea started the second half where they had finished the first 45 minutes, and Sir Alex was quick to make a change, introducing Ronaldo. Hargreaves switched to a defensive midfield role, while Ronaldo offered an outlet from the right. The home side continued to threaten more frequently than United, but there were surprisingly few chances in the second half. The best opportunity fell to Nicolas Anelka, who should have levelled on 73 minutes when Joe Cole’s cross zipped across the face of goal, but the Frenchman failed to get any significant contact on the ball and Neville cleared.

The outstanding Rooney had a good chance on 77 minutes to put United 2-0 up, but his shot from the right hit the side-netting. But just as it seemed as though Sir Alex’s men could see the match out, Chelsea’s prolonged pressure told. Poor marking from a Chelsea free-kick allowed substitute Salomon Kalou to head in the equaliser on 79 minutes. It led to a frantic last ten minutes with Chelsea in the ascendancy and United on the back foot. The Reds stood firm however and this was a performance of determination and an indication perhaps that United’s season can now finally click into gear.

Team Line-ups

Manchester United: Van der Sar (Kuszczak 32); Neville, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes (Ronaldo 55), Park (O'Shea 75); Rooney, Berbatov.
Subs not used: Brown, Giggs, Nani, Tevez.
Booked: Scholes, Ferdinand, Neville, Berbatov, Rooney, Evra, Ronaldo.

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho (Alex 13), A.Cole; J.Cole, Ballack (Kalou 74), Mikel, Lampard, Malouda (Drogba 46); Anelka.
Subs not used: Cudicini, Belletti, Bridge, Ferreira.
Booked: Mikel

Chelsea gagal membalas dendam atas Manchester United pada bigmatch Liga Inggris, Minggu (21/9). Bermain di Stamford Bridge, The Blues nyaris kalah meski akhirnya Salomon Kalou menyamakan skor 1-1.

Tanpa diperkuat Deco di lini tengah, pelatih Luiz Felipe Scolari sudah bisa menurunkan Michael Ballack yang baru sembuh dari cedera. Sebaliknya, MU juga mencadangkan Cristiano Ronaldo dan Carlos Tevez.

Pertandingan itu sendiri berjalan imbang meski keduanya mengawali permainan dengan hati-hati. Striker Wayne Rooney yang dipasangkan bersama Dimitar Berbatov nyaris membuat kejutan ketika tendangan lambungnya hampir mengarah ke gawang yang sudah ditinggalkan kiper Petr Cech. Tiga menit berselang, Joe Cole hampir membobol gawang Edwin van der Sar. Sayangnya, tendangan Joe Cole melenceng dan menerpa jaring dari luar.

Di menit ke-15, Rooney yang bergerak aktif dari tengah ke depan memberi umpan sejajar kepada Rio Ferdinand yang berdiri bebas di sayap kanan. Ferdinand melepas tembakan keras, tapi bola masih mengenai kaki Cech dan hanya menghasilkan sepak pojok.

Tiga menit kemudian, barulah MU mencetak gol lewat Park Ji-Sung. Patrice Evra mengejar umpan Rooney di sayap kiri, lalu memberikan bola kepada Berbatov di tengah. Tendangan Berba masih dapat ditahan Cech, tapi bola muntah dan Park menyambutnya. Gol, 1-0 untuk tim tamu.

Chelsea yang berusaha mengejar ketinggalan nyaris tak memiliki peluang mencetak gol. Sepuluh menit usai gol Park Ji-Sung, Florent Malouda hampir merebut bola di kotak penalti MU. Sayangnya, ia bertabrakan dengan Van der Sar. Sang kiper akhirnya cedera dan digantikan Tomasz Kuszczak pada menit ke-32.

Usai jeda, The Blues mengubah taktik dengan menyerang lewat sayap kiri. Cara ini cukup berhasil karena beberapa kali tusukan dari Ashley Cole, Ballack, dan pengganti Ricardo Carvalho di babak pertama, Alex, mampu menyulitkan Rio Ferdinand dkk. Joe Cole kembali mendapat peluang emas ketika ia lepas dari kawalan Jonathan Evans. Namun, tendangannya dari sayap kiri masih membentur dada Kuszczak.

Sebaliknya, di kubu MU, masuknya Ronaldo yang menggantikan Park Ji-Sung mampu memompa tempo permainan. Umpan Ronaldo dari sayap kiri nyaris berbuah gol di menit ke-77. Sayangnya, dari sejumlah pemain MU yang menumpuk di depan gawang Chelsea, hanya Rooney yang menyambut bola meski tendangannya melebar.



The Blues yang terus menekan di babak kedua akhirnya menuai hasil lewat tandukan pemain pengganti Ballack, Salomon Kalou. Pelanggaran yang dilakukan Rooney di lapangan tengah memberikan hadiah tendangan bebas bagi Chelsea. Ashley Cole mengeksekusi bola mati dan mengarah kepada Kalou yang tak terkawal oleh Ferdinand.

Di akhir pertandingan, sempat terjadi insiden di depan kotak penalti MU. Ferdinand menjatuhkan Drogba dan meninggalkan lapangan sambil mengeluarkan kata-kata tidak puas seolah mendapat kartu kuning kedua dari wasit. Pelatih Sir Alex Ferguson masuk ke lapangan untuk meminta pemain agar tidak memprotes wasit. Ternyata pertandingan dinyatakan selesai dan tidak ada kartu merah untuk Ferdinand.

Susunan pemain:
Chelsea: 1-Cech; 6-Carvalho, 3-A. Cole, 17-Bosingwa, 26-Terry; 8-Lampard, 12-Mikel Obi, 13-Ballack (21-Kalou 74), 10-J. Cole, 15-Malouda (11-Drogba 46); 39-Anelka
Man. United: 1-Van der Sar (29-Kuszczak 32); 5-Ferdinand, 3-Evra, 2-Neville, 23-Evans; 4-Hargreaves, 18-Scholes (7-Ronaldo 55); 24-Fletcher, 13-Park (22-O'Shea 74), 10-Rooney; 9-Berbatov