Manchester United 1 Chelsea 2: Didier Drogba's controversial winner
gives Blues a title tonic
Didier Drogba's controversial winner allowed Chelsea to shrug
Manchester United aside and put themselves back in pole position in the
Premier League title race.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his team
will feel hard done by as Drogba was clearly offside as he collected
Salomon Kalou's pass and drove home 12 minutes from time.
The significance of the error only became clear once Federico Macheda
had pulled a goal back for the hosts to set up a pulsating finish.
Controversial winner: Didier Drogba was in an
offside position when he scored
But Ferguson would be aware that the first hour had been completely
one-sided in Chelsea's favour and that the visitors should have had a
greater advantage than the one goal Joe Cole provided in the first
half.
Without Wayne Rooney, there was no real bite in
United's attack. And although the 34-goal striker is only out for a
fortnight, by the time he returns his side's dreams of glory might be
over, considering Chelsea now have a two-point advantage and a superior
goal difference.
Clinical: Drogba celebrates firing Chelsea to
the top of the table
Since his recovery from a long-term knee injury, Cole has struggled
to get back into the swing of things. Fabio Capello claimed he was not
the same player when he left the midfielder out of his England squad to
face Egypt last month, raising extreme doubt over Cole's chances of
making the World Cup.
Cole's admission that contract talks
had broken down was a statement in itself, given it is hard to imagine
Carlo Ancelotti allowing a pivotal player to find himself in such a
position so close to him being allowed to leave on a free transfer.
Ice breaker: Joe Cole fired Chelsea ahead after
20 minutes
Old Trafford has been mentioned as a potential destination should
Cole leave Stamford Bridge this summer, so it was an opportunity to
impress Sir Alex Ferguson, not that the United chief would have found
the 18th-minute opener even vaguely admirable.
Having put
his side's obvious failings in possession down to a one-off in Munich
last week, Ferguson must have been worried to see the same fault
reappearing quite so often, quite so soon.
There is no
doubt the ankle injury Rooney suffered in Germany had a negative effect
on United. But the fault lay much deeper, their play too ponderous to
have any impact. All across the midfield, United were wasteful in
possession. And with Florent Malouda giving Gary Neville a right old
runaround, Chelsea took complete command.
No consolation: Federico Macheda (right) bundles
the ball home
The disappointment for Ancelotti must have been that his team
did
not make the most of their possession. Edwin van der Sar denied Cole on
one occasion and Nicolas Anelka had a couple of shots blocked but
clear-cut chances were rare.
Even Chelsea's opening goal
was not a golden opportunity in that sense. Malouda was invited to run
into the home box and although Darren Fletcher eventually reacted, the
Chelsea midfielder had the strength to hold him off and cut the ball
back to the near post, where Cole got in front of Patrice Evra and
found the net with a neat back flick.
High and dry: Paul Scholes and Deco do battle
It
took United a long time to respond. And when the rally eventually came,
it took the form of a couple of debatable penalty appeals and referee
Mike Dean was not impressed either when Yury Zhirkov chopped down Park
Ji-sung and Dimitar Berbatov fell under Frank Lampard's challenge.
Had
Paulo Ferreira shown more conviction when he raced to meet Cole's
excellent through-ball at the start of the second half, the contest
would have been over. Instead, the full-back failed to find either the
far corner, or Anelka, and United, who at least speeded up a little bit,
remained alive.
Crunch time: Darren Fletcher and Frank Lampard
joust in midfield
The escape certainly seemed to galvanise the hosts, who for the first
time made Chelsea's defence creak. Berbatov, the man of whom so much
was expected in Rooney's absence, was just off target with a couple of
headers and, off balance, Park was unable to keep his shot on target
after a forceful Fletcher run had carved Chelsea open.
The
introduction of Drogba midway through the second half emphasised the
Blues' strength in depth compared to their hosts, who were forced to
rely on the talents of teenager Macheda when Ferguson needed to
reinvigorate his side.
Predictably, Drogba had an immediate
impact, even if he was offside as he collected Kalou's pass before
drilling his shot past Van der Sar.
Down, and almost out,
United responded instantly as Cech pushed Nani's cross onto the
on-rushing Macheda. The ball bounced slowly into the Chelsea goal to set
up a dramatic ending. But the Blues were worthy winners at the end.
Behind
glass, in the executive box where he watched from, Rooney could only
wonder what might have been.
