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By Duncan White at Old Trafford
Published: 5:30PM BST 03 Apr 2010
Clash of the Titans: Chelsea have leapfrogged United at the top of the table Photo: AP
It is all very simple. Five games and five wins and Chelsea will be champions. With an impressive, aggressive performance in their rival’s own lair, they ripped the initiative from Manchester United and jumped to the top of the table. Now they just have to hold their nerve.
Carlo Ancelotti has forged success out of failure. Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale last month in a fitting defeat: the Portuguese’s achievements at Stamford Bridge have cast an imposing shadow over the work of his successors.
It is ironic then that by beating his former club, Mourinho may well have helped them free themselves of his claustrophobic legacy. By removing the distraction of the Champions League, Mourinho has helped Chelsea close on their first title since his departure.
The lack of midweek distraction was decisive. Thanks to his side no longer being involved in Europe, Ancelotti had a full week of training to prepare his team for this crucial game, a period of preparation that he felt gave his side the edge over United.
“I think we have had a very good reaction after the game against Inter,” Ancelotti said. “We could train in the week and that was an advantage for us. We had the possibility to play with a high tempo.”
That tempo was far too much for an ageing, jaded United XI, that had not got their midweek defeat in Munich out of their system. Not only was the defeat an emotional and physical drain, it cost them the fitness of Wayne Rooney.
Inspired by the outstanding Florent Malouda, a fresh Chelsea dominated from the off, pressing high and hard. With 20 minutes gone the France winger held off the attempted tackle of Antonio Valencia and sprinted towards the box. Darren Fletcher tracked as Gary Neville was distracted by Yuri Zhirkov’s overlapping run but Malouda beat the Scot to the by-line to cross. Ingeniously, Cole flicked the ball through the legs of his marker, Patrice Evra, and into the net.
You expected a response from United but they continued to struggle. The obvious problem was the absence of a 5”10 lump of squat Scouse gristle.
Ferguson believes his squad can cope without Rooney but there was no question his side struggled without their 34-goal striker - that’s hardly a revelation. Yet the poverty of their play, in the first half in particular, could not be blamed just on the absence of Rooney.
Their ability to recover from midweek European trials is hampered by the fact that so many of the players Ferguson is relying on are getting on: the average age of the United starting XI was over 31 and it showed. Chelsea were simply sharper and quicker to the ball and United’s veterans had to resort to increasingly desperate measures to stop them. Paul Scholes had already committed two rash fouls when his wild lunge at Malouda - which fortunately missed the Frenchman - was followed by a yellow card.
Neville’s excessive foul on the same player just before the break met with the same punishment. Both players walked a fine line in the second half.
Mike Dean, the referee, called those right but had a decidedly poor game otherwise, missing two clear penalties and failing to spot that Chelsea’s second goal was offside and that United’s goal was handball.
Dean has a trigger finger with penalties, having given 16 in 24 games (more than any other Premier League referee) and he knew he would be under scrutiny.
Zhirkov’s foul on Park after Alex had slipped was perhaps tricky from his angle of vision but how he could not punish Neville for ludicrously taking out Nicolas Anelka with a full-body charge was bizarre. One each, at least.
Paulo Ferriera missed a great chance to put Chelsea 2-0 just two minutes into the second half, after Cole’s clever pass had sent him clear of Patrice Evra. The Portuguese full-back, perhaps panicked at being so far forward, neither crossed nor shot in the end.
From that moment on, though, United began to come back into it. Evra ambitiously hit a Valencia cross on the full but could not get it on target while Park also sent the ball into the stand after latching on to Darren Fletcher’s cute pass.
With United starting to build some useful pressure, Ancelotti played his trump card. He had decided not to start Drogba, wanting to use him as a late impact player. And some impact he did have. Put through by fellow substitute Salomon Kalou, he slammed the ball in at Edwin van der Sar’s near post to secure victory.
He was a good yard offside, an oversight by assistant Simon Beck that met with Ferguson’s understandable fury.
Still, the officials’ mistakes evened themselves out. With nine minutes left United’s own substitutes combined to pull one back.
Nani beat Ferreira on the left and crossed the ball into the six-yard box. Petr Cech sprang out and pushed the ball into Macheda’s chest. The Italian striker, whose cameos had such a dramatic effect on the title run in last season, eased the ball over the line with his arm. A furious John Terry appealed in vain.
Berbatov, who as deputy to Rooney was limited to a handful of headed half-chances, was given the opportunity to equalise in stoppage time but could not connect cleanly with Neville’s cross. With the final whistle, United ceded the initiative.
United must now hope for a Chelsea slip. The fixture list could put them in a rather uncomfortable position indeed. On May 1, Chelsea travel to Anfield in what looks the trickiest obstacle left for them to overcome.
United might have to become Liverpool fans for a day.
Published: 5:30PM BST 03 Apr 2010
Clash of the Titans: Chelsea have leapfrogged United at the top of the table Photo: AP
It is all very simple. Five games and five wins and Chelsea will be champions. With an impressive, aggressive performance in their rival’s own lair, they ripped the initiative from Manchester United and jumped to the top of the table. Now they just have to hold their nerve.
Carlo Ancelotti has forged success out of failure. Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale last month in a fitting defeat: the Portuguese’s achievements at Stamford Bridge have cast an imposing shadow over the work of his successors.
It is ironic then that by beating his former club, Mourinho may well have helped them free themselves of his claustrophobic legacy. By removing the distraction of the Champions League, Mourinho has helped Chelsea close on their first title since his departure.
The lack of midweek distraction was decisive. Thanks to his side no longer being involved in Europe, Ancelotti had a full week of training to prepare his team for this crucial game, a period of preparation that he felt gave his side the edge over United.
“I think we have had a very good reaction after the game against Inter,” Ancelotti said. “We could train in the week and that was an advantage for us. We had the possibility to play with a high tempo.”
That tempo was far too much for an ageing, jaded United XI, that had not got their midweek defeat in Munich out of their system. Not only was the defeat an emotional and physical drain, it cost them the fitness of Wayne Rooney.
Inspired by the outstanding Florent Malouda, a fresh Chelsea dominated from the off, pressing high and hard. With 20 minutes gone the France winger held off the attempted tackle of Antonio Valencia and sprinted towards the box. Darren Fletcher tracked as Gary Neville was distracted by Yuri Zhirkov’s overlapping run but Malouda beat the Scot to the by-line to cross. Ingeniously, Cole flicked the ball through the legs of his marker, Patrice Evra, and into the net.
You expected a response from United but they continued to struggle. The obvious problem was the absence of a 5”10 lump of squat Scouse gristle.
Ferguson believes his squad can cope without Rooney but there was no question his side struggled without their 34-goal striker - that’s hardly a revelation. Yet the poverty of their play, in the first half in particular, could not be blamed just on the absence of Rooney.
Their ability to recover from midweek European trials is hampered by the fact that so many of the players Ferguson is relying on are getting on: the average age of the United starting XI was over 31 and it showed. Chelsea were simply sharper and quicker to the ball and United’s veterans had to resort to increasingly desperate measures to stop them. Paul Scholes had already committed two rash fouls when his wild lunge at Malouda - which fortunately missed the Frenchman - was followed by a yellow card.
Neville’s excessive foul on the same player just before the break met with the same punishment. Both players walked a fine line in the second half.
Mike Dean, the referee, called those right but had a decidedly poor game otherwise, missing two clear penalties and failing to spot that Chelsea’s second goal was offside and that United’s goal was handball.
Dean has a trigger finger with penalties, having given 16 in 24 games (more than any other Premier League referee) and he knew he would be under scrutiny.
Zhirkov’s foul on Park after Alex had slipped was perhaps tricky from his angle of vision but how he could not punish Neville for ludicrously taking out Nicolas Anelka with a full-body charge was bizarre. One each, at least.
Paulo Ferriera missed a great chance to put Chelsea 2-0 just two minutes into the second half, after Cole’s clever pass had sent him clear of Patrice Evra. The Portuguese full-back, perhaps panicked at being so far forward, neither crossed nor shot in the end.
From that moment on, though, United began to come back into it. Evra ambitiously hit a Valencia cross on the full but could not get it on target while Park also sent the ball into the stand after latching on to Darren Fletcher’s cute pass.
With United starting to build some useful pressure, Ancelotti played his trump card. He had decided not to start Drogba, wanting to use him as a late impact player. And some impact he did have. Put through by fellow substitute Salomon Kalou, he slammed the ball in at Edwin van der Sar’s near post to secure victory.
He was a good yard offside, an oversight by assistant Simon Beck that met with Ferguson’s understandable fury.
Still, the officials’ mistakes evened themselves out. With nine minutes left United’s own substitutes combined to pull one back.
Nani beat Ferreira on the left and crossed the ball into the six-yard box. Petr Cech sprang out and pushed the ball into Macheda’s chest. The Italian striker, whose cameos had such a dramatic effect on the title run in last season, eased the ball over the line with his arm. A furious John Terry appealed in vain.
Berbatov, who as deputy to Rooney was limited to a handful of headed half-chances, was given the opportunity to equalise in stoppage time but could not connect cleanly with Neville’s cross. With the final whistle, United ceded the initiative.
United must now hope for a Chelsea slip. The fixture list could put them in a rather uncomfortable position indeed. On May 1, Chelsea travel to Anfield in what looks the trickiest obstacle left for them to overcome.
United might have to become Liverpool fans for a day.
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