CHELSEA drew level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League after the Reds slipped to a dramatic defeat at Stamford Bridge.
Michael Ballack put the home side ahead just before half time with a powerful header and the Reds were struggling.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson's men came out with more purpose after the break and when Carvalho played a blind pass along the Chelsea backline, Wayne Rooney pounced to draw United level.
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But with six minutes remaining, Michael Carrick was penalised for handball in the box and Ballack smashed home the spot-kick to re-ignite the title race.
To make matters worse for United, Rooney seemed to pick up an injury while scoring his goal and had to come off. United stay top of the league with a goal difference 17 better than Chelsea.
United, who left Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez on the substitute’s bench, were rocked in the ninth minute when Nemanja Vidic was stretchered off with a facial injury.
The United defender was caught by Didier Drogba’s knee as he stooped to head the ball clear and he was subsequently replaced by Owen Hargreaves.
The tempo, as expected, was fast and furious but goalscoring opportunities were at a premium.
Chelsea should have taken the lead in the 20th minute when Joe Cole got clear of the United defence but after initially losing the ball, he lashed the ball against the crossbar from just inside the penalty area.
The home side were well on top and thought they should have been awarded a spot-kick in the 34th minute when Drogba appeared to go down under a robust challenge from Mikel Silvestre.
Appeals
But the referee emphatically waved away Chelsea’s appeals while United’s bench accused the Ivorian of taking a dive.
However, Chelsea took the lead in the 45th minute when Drogba’s cross was headed home at the far post by the unmarked Ballack.
The goal sparked emotional scenes as all the Chelsea players held up Frank Lampard’s number eight shirt with the message ’Pat Lampard - R.I.P’. Ballack who had taken his shirt off, was then booked by Wiley.
It was a tribute to Lampard’s mother who passed away from pneumonia on Thursday.
United were still struggling to create anything despite a better share of possession at the start of the second half.
United’s Brown found himself booked for a foul on Essien in the 52nd minute as, rather ominously for Chelsea, 38-goal Cristiano Ronaldo warmed up on the touchline.
But United got themselves back into the game thanks to a mistake by Chelsea defender Carvalho.
The Portuguese defender passed the ball straight to Rooney who accepted the gift by firing beyond Cech into the net.
Carvalho’s error could have already gifted United the title Ferguson, sensing perhaps that his side could finish the job, replaced a struggling Rooney with Ronaldo.
Seconds later Anderson was substituted for John O’Shea and Chelsea, knowing they had to get themselves back in front, added Nicolas Anelka into the mix in place of Paulo Ferreira.
The game erupted into controversy in the 84th minute when Wiley awarded a penalty for handball against Carrick.
The United midfielder got his arm in the way of Essien’s cross and Ballack kept his cool to score from the spot and keep the title race on the boil.
What is your verdict on the game? Have your say.
Chelsea 2 United 1
April 26, 2008
Comments
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That's it guys. Title's over. We are going to lose to West Ham. We are going to lose to Barcelona and that'll be that. I was dreading this run in and it has been my worst fears. If anyone can see us beating our next two matches on current form is having a laugh.
With each appearance by Giggs the probability of United ending the season without a trophy goes up a few notches.
I tell u what!! FFS! i am sick to death of United getting nothing- they all love it- ref gives em everything again. Y the hell is Nani so greedy. iM SO frustrated and all that but let them have this victory let them have it, we-ll still win the title. Scum!
Fletcher, Giggs, O'Shea? What did SAF REALLY expect? The penalty was suspect, but we should have beaten Chelsea today. When are we going to play our best team? There is always some reason to rest this one or that one. Our last two games was NEGATIVE FOOTBALL plain and simple. PLAY TO BLOODY WIN OR DON'T WHINGE WHEN LOSE!!!
So on Tuseday is it Giggs, Scholes and Fletcher again? We will win the Prem but we are not going to win the CL with this mentality.
SCUM ABSOLUTE SCUM
Chelsea can only win with the help of referees, just check their home game against Arsenal.
absolute rubbish again, disastrous. in a matter a weeks we seem to have gone from being one of the most feared attacking teams in europe to a team either incapable or forbidden to attack. playing for the draw was suicide, we got what we deserved.
Fergie is entirely responsible for this performance and result. Not content with playing a weakened line-up, he sabotaged our momentum when we finally achieved some. Having equalised and gotten back into the game, enjoying our best spell and he takes Anderson off!! What's that all about?!! Yes we should still win the title but why make it difficult for ourselves!
Pathetic. Losers, spineless. Fergie out!!!
what happened ? why are we throwing away games we should be winning.i fear now that it could all go pear shaped,totally gutted.
I agree we didnt have a great game by our standards but that SOB linesman needs a kick up his backside that was not a penalty really i don belive that he gave it and micheal ballack should have been given a card when he blocked Ronaldo as soon as he came in in their penalty box really the referee was sad beyond doubt. We got two games to go and we better win and we better attack no point being conservative at all really SAF needs to get his tactics right he better or i don care what he has achieved we need to call for his head now is the time we win or get SAF to quit really high time. Barca in the mid week but really if he applies his lets wait and watch approach tactics we are doomed he better not.
We wuz robbed! Chelsea did no more than put off their
inevitable fate of finishing
second.
Up the Reds
We wuz robbed! Chelsea did no more than put off their
inevitable fate of finishing
second.
Up the Reds
This will go down in history for Manchester United as the heartbreaker of the decade. Chelsea's penalty will be debated for a long time. But the truth is, we lost the advantage for a number of reasongs. Losing Vidic so early was a crushing blow. Then to see Rooney impaired because of the hip injury from Barca was equally painful. BUT THE WORST PART WAS KNOWING THAT FERGURSON (NOT FERGIE, THAT'S TOO FRIENDLY) LOST THE MATCH BEFORE IT BEGAN. How could he leave Ronaldo and Tevez out? Did he think this would be a cakewalk and that the match against Barca on Tuesday is the more important? Fergurson insulted his fans and the league by playing Fletcher (the invisible man) and Giggs (Chelsea's 12th man, by passing each ball along to them.) The penalty was cruel. With minutes to go, we were one victory away from the title. Now we need two wins, no easy task. It looks like we have handed the league title over to Chelsea. And despite the penalty, based on our first half play, Fergurson takes the blame. Like all incompetent managers, he should be fired if we end up with no silverware this season. Now, pass the tranquilizer.
Fergie threw it away again! what a starting line up! unbelievable! why not Saha on crutches? Frankly, i'm afraid that this man has lost the plot with his lining, to left out the top scorer and getting out our best player (Anderson), clearly indicates that this man is only thinking about this F...Cl! when all that matters is to win silvewares, but to achieve that with "the best squad i've ever had", you have to field your best players! always, especially the kind of Ronnie, Andy and Nani,three days are largely enoug for them to recover in time to face anyone on tueday! The man blew again against a hungriest team! unforgivable for the fans!
another poor sub standard display from utd. i think we will end up with nothing this season. fergies tactics again!!
in that first half i thought i was still in catalonia and i was watching a rerun total and utter cowardice yet again.. much better in the 2nd half for about 20 mins. got our equalizer and went straight back into reverse gear. once again we have been let down by team selection and negative tactics.
i hope we still win it but why the **** do we make it so difficult for ourselves?
fletcher was the only player in our 6 man midfield who had anything like a decent game in the first 45 so well done to him.
the invisible man again failed to stamp his authority on the game and went missing.
the captain was actually a total embarrasment in those first 45 and needs to be dropped.
I am Optimistic because we have THE BEST MIDFIELD IN WORLD FOOTBALL and we HAVE GOALSCORING OPTIONS ALL OVER THE PARK so we wont have any difficulty winning the next 3.
No trophies this year I fear. Our late season form has just not been good enough. Not good enough to get past Barcelona or to get maximum points from West Ham and Wigan.
I think the starting formation tells you that SAF considered winning next Tuesday's game much more important than losing out to Chelsea. Otherwise why would he AGAIN start with the utterly useless Ryan Giggs, play Nani on the right and, leave out our two best strikers. And if Chelsea can afford to put on their strongest XI, why can't we? I dread to think about it, but if we end up not reaching the CL final and not winning the Premiership, there'll be onlyl one person to blame: Sir Alex Ferguson.
3 GAMES IN A ROW WEVE HAD SHOCKIN REFS
Has Fergie lost faith inhis squad Hargreaves left back instaead of O shea.
Hargreaves should have been in midfield closing down Essian whi I thought was MOM.
Chelsea got out of jail with a poor linesman decision IMO but that left wing looked vulnerable all game where was Giggs covering for Silvestre.
Everyone can see that Carrick removes his arm while pulling his thigh upwards. The ball hits the top of his thigh, and moves towards goal at almost the same pace. If he had handled, the ball would have lost more pace and almost stopped.
Just hope West Ham and Wigan have nothing to play in the next two matches. A penalty and a one-on-one against Boro, two penalties and a one-on-one against Blackburn and the decision today. As Martin Edwards put it back in '99: If they win the league, they ought to give a medal to the referee.
If Utd really want to win this championship then they'll do it. It's still in our own hands.
Recently we have been
looking nervy and not really playing like champions.If we want to win things we have to dare playing football not just sit back and let the opposition have possession. We have the players to do it but,when we let the opposition get on top of us and just defend we suffer cos it is not our style of play. Please stick to the way we play.................
sir.alex ferguson can walk off the chelsea pitch angry at the result..but..penalty or no penalty chelsea just looked the better team player by player..and why keep our best scoring player on the bench til the last minutes of the game..playing fletcher and leaving ronaldo on the bench big mistake..we needed to win this game first..then think about the champions game on tuesday night..THIS GAME A PIORITY FOR MANCHESTER UNITED to win (or draw) to retain the premier leauge title..now we have opened the door for chelsea to steal same title..yes..we can still win the premier title on goal average by beating west ham and wigan..but surely this game today was most important for united..why did sir.alex not field our strongest manchester united side against chelsea in the most crucial game of the season this day..in conclusion chelsea looked and played better football during the entire ninty minutes plus today..and player by played were much the better side..now it comes down to winning our last four games to retain the premier league title and win the champions league cup..and on todays display l have my doubts on our ability to do so..enough said