Champions Chelsea dragged
themselves away from the
Premier League abyss as David
Luiz and Frank Lampard struck to
complete a memorable comeback
win over Manchester United.
- Johnson: Arsenal true winners
To make matters worse for the
leaders, they had skipper
Nemanja Vidic sent off for a
second bookable offence in
stoppage time - meaning he will
miss Sunday's trip to Liverpool.
Trailing to Wayne Rooney's fifth
goal in as many league games at
the break, Chelsea levelled a
thrilling encounter when Luiz
volleyed home his first goal since
a £25million transfer window
move from Benfica.
And when Yuri Zhirkov went down
under Chris Smalling's challenge in
the box 12 minutes from time,
Lampard strode up to extended
an unbeaten home record against
their visitors dating back to 2002.
More importantly, it cut United's
advantage over Chelsea - who
have a game in hand - to 12
points and open up the possibility
of Arsenal closing to within a
point if they win their oustanding
game against Tottenham.
The annoyance for Sir Alex
Ferguson would have been that
Luiz appeared fortunate not to
have been sent off for tripping
Rooney moments before
Lampard's winner, having already
been booked.
Yet, that was only poetic justice
given even the United boss felt
his star striker was fortunate
not to be banned for his attack
on James McCarthy at the DW
Stadium on Saturday.
Until he found the net, the 25-
year-old's notable involvement of
a sustained purple patch for the
visitors was to fluff a free
header on the edge of the six-
yard box.
Then he made the breakthrough.
Allowed to creep away from the
Chelsea defensive line by John
Terry and the otherwise
excellent Luiz, Rooney collected
Nani's pass with his back to goal
and spun round quickly.
Branislav Ivanovic recognised the
danger but was powerless to do
anything about it as Rooney took
aim from 25 yards and beat Petr
Cech with a ferocious shot that
flew into the bottom corner.
At that stage, United deserved
their lead.
Although Chelsea had plenty of
possession and Ashley Cole was
sarcastically urged to ''shoot'' by
the visiting supporters, Florent
Malouda had failed to capitalise
on their one opening of note
when he drilled a shot from
Nicolas Anelka's cross straight at
Van der Sar.
The Dutchman's moment of the
season was still to come. And it
will be talked about long after his
retirement at the end of the
season.
When he had only been able to
push Frank Lampard's long-range
free-kick towards Ivanovic, the
equaliser looked certain. In
fairness to the Serb, the ball did
not come towards him at the
right height, so he could only
bundle the ball rather than strike
it.
Still, it was heading over the line
until Van der Sar despairingly
flung out an arm and somehow
managed to push the ball
upwards, changing its trajectory
so it struck Vidic, who was
scrambling back on the line.
Van der Sar then completed
mission impossible by clawing the
ball away from goal, and
dangerous Chelsea feet, so
Darren Fletcher could hammer it
to safety.
Luiz has thus far proved to be
the most astute signing of
Chelsea's £75million January
purchases, combining solid
defensive work with typical South
American ability on the ball.
Clearly, he can strike a ball
pretty well too as he proved
when lashing home a 10-yard
volley, from Michael Essien's cross.
Chances came and went with
breathtaking regularity at either
end. Lampard and substitute
Didier Drogba for Chelsea. Rooney
for United, drawing frustrated
cries from Gary Neville, who was
wedged amongst the visiting
supporters, cheering for the club
he has always loved.
Neville would have presumably
taken a pretty dim view of Luiz's
blatant trip on Rooney, which
would surely have brought a red
card had it been spotted by
referee Martin Atkinson.
The Yorkshireman missed it, but
not Chris Smalling blocking off Yuri
Zhirkov at the other end
moments later, allowing Lampard
to smash home his penalty.
Zhirkov came agonisingly close to
grabbing a third goal when his
fierce shot struck Vidic and
crashed against the post.
Vidic's evening was to end on a
sour note though as suddenly
United look vulnerable ahead of
their Anfield trip.
Sir Alex Ferguson pulled few
punches in his assessment of
referee Martin Atkinson, both for
awarding the penalty for Chelsea
and for not sending off Luiz
moments earlier when he
appeared to foul Rooney - himself
the beneficiary of some lenient
refereeing at the weekend.
Ferguson said: ''The penalty kick
was so soft. Deary me. But we
played very well. It was a great
performance by us. We didn't
deserve that. That's three years
in a row (at Stamford Bridge)
referees' decisions have changed
the game.''
On the Luiz decision, he added: ''It
was incredible. Even before that
he'd done Chicharito off the ball.
He'd done him late. Nothing done,
the referee's in front of it.
''He does Rooney clear as day,
(the referee is) six yards from it,
he doesn't do anything. That
changed the game. These are
decisions that change the game.
And he's going to be refereeing
every week.
''But I'm proud of the players.
They've endured a lot of decisions
against them but they've come
through it, they've done their
best. They've created good
chances. They didn't deserve
that.''
Asked if Chelsea were back in the
title race, he added: ''If they get
decisions like tonight then it can
change everything. They got a lot
of decisions tonight that
surprised me.''
Vidic is ruled out of Sunday's trip
to Liverpool, a match Rio
Ferdinand will not be fit for
either.
"I don't think Rio will be fit for
Liverpool,'' said Ferguson. "Wes
Brown will take over."
Carlo Ancelotti admitted Luiz had
perhaps been fortunate.
''There was a lot of intensity and
it was not easy for the referee
to decide every time,'' he said.
''David Luiz could be lucky but
there was a lot going on on the
pitch so the referee decided he
didn't see this.
"The referee took some decisions,
but I don't want to judge them. I
don't like doing this.''
He added of Luiz's all-action
contribution: "Luiz's performance
was very good, confirming the
performance he made against
Fulham. He scored an important
goal, the key to the game, and
he's a very good player.''
Ancelotti said of the 12-point gap
to United: "It's too far, it's too
far. But this victory is important
for us and our confidence. We
can't think about arriving at the
top at this moment.
"I cannot believe we are this far
behind, but we have to be
honest. This is where we are in
the table, and United have played
with more consistency than us.''
The Italian admitted United had
been the better team in the first
half and hailed his side's fightback.
"They showed great spirit
because it wasn't easy coming
back into that game,'' he said.
"United are fantastic on the
counter-attack, so we needed to
strike a good balance.''
Chelsea's victory came just days
after it emerged Ashley Cole had
accidentally shot an intern at the
club. Ancelotti said of the left-
back's performance: "He played a
good game. He moved forward
more in the second half and was
defensively very good.''

Sad for Man U fans.

I cant believe we lost, the ref cheated us! its all good..we are still on top even though its a slim lead...we will win the league when its all said and done!

I like your optimism.

Quote from: BiGxGh.Com™ on 2011-03-02 17:14
I cant believe we lost, the ref cheated us! its all good..we are still on top even though its a slim lead...we will win the league when its all said and done!

I like that. You are too optimistic. Infact you are die hard Man Utd fan just like me.

Well, that is one thing with football, any thing can happen.
But, accusing ref is not the best option. Man u is a big team and should put their house in order and focus on the match ahead of them.