United lift Champions League trophy after penalty shoot-out win

Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (a.e.t.)
(Man United win 6-5 on penalties)

Portuguese duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani are celebrating their first European trophy after Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties to lift the Champions League in Moscow.

A tense and close-fought evening was settled by spot kicks, with Ronaldo, who scored United’s goal in normal time, missing his kick and substitute Nani scoring his for United. John Terry and Nicolas Anelka failed to convert for Chelsea, giving United their third triumph in Europe’s premier club competition.

The ninety minutes of normal time were played out in contrasting halves, with United controlling large parts of the first period, creating several good chances, and Chelsea much the superior team after the break, while the Blues ended the match with ten men following a late red card for Didier Drogba.

Ouststanding Ronaldo

Ronaldo was in outstanding form on the night, and gave the first real glimpse of his threat on 15 minutes when he skipped past Michael Essien on the left before narrowly failing to pick out Owen Hargreaves at the back post.

However, the Portuguese did make a decisive impact less than ten minutes later when he scored his 42nd and final goal of a truly remarkable season. A neat interchange between Wes Brown and Paul Scholes on the right touchline resulted in Brown floating a cross into the penalty area, with Ronaldo rising to direct an expert header past Petr Cech, who was rooted to the spot.

Chelsea could have drawn level shortly afterwards when Michael Ballack forced Edwin van Der Sar into a save, but it was United who threatened most to score again in the build-up to half time. A superb counter-attack launched by Wayne Rooney saw Ronaldo cut the ball back for Tevez to head straight at Cech from close-range, before Michael Carrick was also denied by the Chelsea number one from the rebound.

Tevez was again guilty of missing a golden chance when he failed to connect with Rooney’s cross, but United were hit with the sucker punch on the stroke of half time when Chelsea levelled hugely against the run of play. Essien’s speculative shot took two deflections before falling to Lampard, who prodded past van Der Sar from close-range.

Carvalho/Ronaldo clash

Chelsea’s Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho left his mark on Ronaldo with a nasty challenge just before the referee blew for half time, and a fired up Chelsea emerged from the interval a far stronger side. After an initially bright start from United, the Blues dominated the second forty-five minutes, but could not translate their superiority into goalscoring opportunities.

Essien and Michael Ballack were off target from long-range, before Didier Drogba, who had been having a quiet evening, rattled the outside of van Der Sar’s post with a superb effort from the edge of the area. A Tevez shot which flew past Cech’s post was as much as United offered in terms of attempts on goal in the second forty-five minutes.

Referee Lubos Michel brought an end to normal time and an additional half hour was required, during which the balance of play was even, with both sides having excellent chances to win the match. Chelsea could have scored just three minutes in through Lampard’s turn and shot, which hit the crossbar, before United substitute Ryan Giggs’ goal bound effort was diverted away from the target by John Terry.

Nani was thrown into the fray in place of Wayne Rooney, before tempers flared late on and Drogba was issued a red card for a petulant slap on Nemanja Vidic. Both managers then made late substitutions with a penalty shootout in mind, with Brazilians Juliano Belletti (Chelsea) and former Porto midfielder Anderson (Porto) introduced in the closing seconds.

The shootout looked destined to go in Chelsea’s favour when Ronaldo was the only player to miss from the opening nine kicks, with Nani coolly finding the bottom corner with his finish. The chance to win the trophy fell to Terry, but the Chelsea skipper sliced his effort against the post. Both sides scored the subsequent penalties, but after Giggs made it 6-5 for United, van Der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka to bring an end to an incredible evening in the Russian capital.

Man United:
Van Der Sar, Brown (Anderson, 120), Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes (Giggs, 87), Ronaldo, Rooney (Nani, 101), Tevez
Yellow Cards: Scholes, Ferdinand, Vidic, Tevez

Chelsea:
Cech, Essien, Cole, Carvalho, Terry, Makelele (Belletti, 120), Ballack, Lampard, J.Cole (Anelka, 99), Malouda (Kalou, 92), Drogba
Yellow Cards: Makelele, Carvalho, Ballack, Essien
Red Cards: Drogba

Goals:
[1-0] Ronaldo, 24
[1-1] Lampard, 45

Penalty shootout:
[1-0] Tevez scored
[1-1] Ballack scored
[2-1] Carrick scored
[2-2] Belletti scored
[2-2] Ronaldo missed
[2-3] Lampard scored
[3-3] Hargreaves scored
[3-4] A.Cole scored
[4-4] Nani scored
[4-4] Terry missed
[5-4] Anderson scored
[5-5] Kalou scored
[6-5] Giggs scored
[6-5] Anelka missed