What is RSS?

6 August 2007, by Sean Gillen

Manchester-Chelsea rivalry resumes: first blood to United

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United (United win 3-0 on pens)

Manchester United lifted the Community Shield after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea, following a closely-fought draw between England’s top two sides at Wembley.

Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani were in action for United, while Jose Mourinho selected Ricardo Carvalho in central defence for the Blues, as both sides were without several first team players.

The opening twenty minutes were rather lifeless, with the game displaying a worrying likeness to the dour FA Cup final contested by the two sides in May. However, as the teams adapted to what was an exceedingly hot day in London, the match came to life after Ronaldo helped create the game’s first real opportunity.

Ronaldo burst

The Portuguese embarked on a powerful burst from inside his own half to the edge of the Chelsea area, at which point his attempt at cutting inside saw the ball ricochet towards the far side of the area, where Ryan Giggs arrived to draw a superb save from Petr Cech.

Michael Carrick then had an effort fly wide of the post, as United compensated for their lower possession count by looking the more incisive side in the attacking third. Chelsea’s first major chance arrived when new signing Florent Malouda’s free-kick was headed inches past the far post by Michael Essien, with Obi Mikel narrowly failing to make contact.

The deadlock was broken ten minutes before the break, as United opened the scoring with a brilliantly worked goal. Vidic played a cross-field pass to Patrice Evra, who exchanged a swift one-two with Ronaldo before bursting into the penalty area and cutting the ball back for Giggs to score with a perfectly placed finish into the top corner.

With United looking set to go into the break ahead, Mourinho’s men fashioned an excellent equaliser on stroke of half time. Ashley Cole lifted a dangerous ball down the left channel for Malouda, who showed great strength to hold off Ferdinand, before using the outside of his left foot to bend the ball past van Der Sar and into the far corner.

United started the second half well, and another superb run and cutback from Evra led to Ronaldo forcing a good left-handed save from Cech inside the opening five minutes following the re-start.

Injury jinx strikes Chelsea

Chelsea’s performance improved as the half progressed, although the Blues continued to struggle to really open up the United defence, with Mourinho incurring further problems when he had to replace Malouda early in the half as the Frenchman struggled with injury.

Alex Ferguson introduced Nani with around twenty-five minutes remaining and, after a couple of poor early touches resulted in a change of footwear, the 21-year-old looked bright with his passing as he switched flanks with Ronaldo in the United setup.

The remainder of normal time was played out with neither side looking too likely to steal the win. With no extra time designated, the match went straight to penalties and it was United goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar who proved to be the match winner, saving all three Chelsea spot-kicks as United cruised to a 3-0 shootout victory.

Jose Mourinho (Chelsea manager):

“What makes me happy is compared with the Man United of last season that was flying, today no Paul Scholes was the difference in their line-up. We were more than 50 per cent different - but we competed.

“I don’t want to say we were better, I don’t want to go down that road, but it is fair to say nobody was worse and that gives us confidence for the start of the season.

“If I give my opinion of the 90 minutes, I think Chelsea didn’t deserve to lose because we controlled the game for 90 minutes in quite an easy way, no defensive problems.

“I am not worried about the injured players. When they are back, they are back and I am ready to go to the fight, as I was today, with these boys. It is not a problem.”

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager):

“It was a difficult game. I think the heat played a part and I don’t think either team is 100 per cent ready. But it was satisfying to win and we can use it as a stepping stone to the big one next week.

“There wasn’t a great deal between the two sides in terms of possession and play, but we made the better chances.”

Chelsea:
Cech, Johnson (Sidwell 78), Carvalho, Ben Haim, Ashley Cole (Diarra 67), Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Wright-Phillips, Malouda (Pizarro 51), Joe Cole (Sinclair 82)
Yellow Cards: Ben Haim, Carvalho, Mikel

Manchester United:
Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Silvestre (Nani 68), O'Shea, Carrick, Evra, Giggs (Fletcher 81), Ronaldo, Rooney
Yellow Cards: Rooney

Goals:
[0-1] Giggs, 35
[1-1] Malouda, 45

Shootout:
[0-0] Pizarro missed (Chelsea)
[0-1] Ferdinand scored (United)
[0-1] Lampard missed (Chelsea)
[0-2] Carrick scored (United)
[0-2] Wright-Phillips missed (Chelsea)
[0-3] Rooney scored (United)