Chelsea were beaten for the first
time in this season's Premier
League as two red cards ushered
Manchester United to a 3-2 win
in west London.
Two goals down inside 12
minutes, the leaders fought their
way off the ropes to level
through Juan Mata (44) and
Ramires (53) and were looking
likelier winners until Branislav
Ivanovic was sent off on the
hour.
But a second red card for
Fernando Torres meant the end
of any genuine attacking
ambition, and substitute Javier
Hernandez bundled a contentious
winner (75) to haul United within
a point of the leaders and give
them a first league success at
Stamford Bridge since 2002.
Despite the result there was
plenty in Chelsea's performance
to reinforce their credentials as
real title challengers, though
they were handicapped by a
haphazard start as United's
£24m man Robin van Persie
made one goal and scored
another.
United's defence was under
scrutiny before the game
following another porous display
against Braga in midweek, but it
was a home back four missing
John Terry which was exposed
during the opening exchanges as
Ashley Cole was repeatedly
isolated and David Luiz too often
in a different district to Gary
Cahill.
Ashley Young strolled into a
gaping hole between the centre-
halves to feed Wayne Rooney,
and when his cut-back was met
by a firm first-time van Persie
shot the ball hit a post, cannoned
off Luiz and bobbled beyond Petr
Cech.
Van Persie's movement in the box
for the opener was bright
enough, but it was an identical
checked run which caught out
Cahill soon afterwards and this
time the striker's right-footed
effort from Antonio Valencia's low
centre beat Cech by itself.
Luiz was slow to close down
Valencia and continued to
unsettle home supporters at the
back, but it was the Brazilian's
free-kick which forced David De
Gea into the first of several
feet-first saves and sparked an
improvement in Chelsea's
performance.
Jonny Evans miscued a clearance
against a post, De Gea denying
Cahill from the corner which
followed, and the goalkeeper
then used his right hand to claw
out a Torres header from his
near post.
A goal was coming and Mata's
precise free-kick left his
compatriot little chance before
Ramires rose above Tom
Cleverley to head a second-half
equaliser.
In between the two De Gea's feet
denied Mata a second, and Eden
Hazard then went close as
Chelsea threatened to become
the first side in Premier League
history to topple United from 2-0
down.
But Ivanovic saw red for clipping
a clean-through Young and
Torres followed for a second
booking - referee Mark
Clattenburg deciding he dived
unnecessarily over Evans' lunge.
Chelsea were left hanging on and
the task proved too much as
Cech kept out van Persie only for
Hernandez - loitering in what
appeared an offside position - to
turn in Rafael da Silva's follow-up.

At 2-2 on 60 minutes, this was
a tense but hugely engaging
game that could have gone
either way. Few, however,
would have predicted the
direction it ultimately took.
Impressive creativity gave way
to utter chaos.
- Premier League review
- Chelsea complain about
Clattenburg
- Di Matteo hits out at ref
- Photo Gallery
At the end of it all, the only
objective 'fact' we have is that
the European champions have
finally lost in the league.
Almost everything that led to
that outcome, though, is up
for intense debate.
There was a comeback, two
contentious red cards, a
number of other incidents that
went untouched, a hugely
controversial refereeing
performance, an injured
steward, a heated touchline
debate, an official complaint
about the referee and,
ultimately, a very dubious
winning goal. At least, no-one
was talking about handshakes.
And, in truth, all those
discussion points ensured
there were almost as many
dimensions to this game: what
it says for the title race, what
it says about teams and,
ultimately, what the last half-
hour says about the state of
the game. After all that, it
wasn't just the result and
repercussions that were
almost forgotten amid all the
furore but the fact
Manchester United actually
reversed two conspicuous
recent trends: they went
ahead rather than behind
early on, before suffering from
a comeback.
What that points to is one of
the few things we can say
with any degree of certainty
beyond the fact of the final
score: both these teams are
superb going forward but
hugely suspect at the back.
Before this match, it had
occasionally seemed like
Chelsea's poor defensive game
had been disguised by a series
of forgiving league fixtures, as
well as the implosion of Arsenal
and absences at Tottenham.
That was borne out within
three minutes as their under-
protected backline was pulled
all over the place and Robin
van Persie's strike against the
post fortuitously went in off
David Luiz. For the next half-
hour, it looked like Manchester
United would score every time
they went forward. Indeed, it
only took them eight minutes
to do so again. And, if the first
was fortunate, this was an
impressive show of force.
As has happened on a few
occasions between these
teams now, Antonio Valencia
bested Ashley Cole, United's
movement unravelled Chelsea
and Van Persie entered the
void to finish. If United looked
rampant, though, it was partly
because the home side's
defensive structure was in
ruins.
As Shakhtar Donetsk's
Fernandinho indicated on
Tuesday and as Di Matteo
himself all but admitted on
Friday, Chelsea's main problem
is that they may be very quick
to counter-attack but are
worryingly slow to re-organise.
When they have the ball, for
example, the two centre-
halves often go very wide in
order to play it out. The big
issue with that is, unlike say
Sergio Busquets at Barcelona,
no midfielder properly drops
back in order to fill the gap.
Here, John Obi Mikel often
looked 20 yards more
advanced than he should have
been.
It's an issue they're going to
have to solve. On Sunday, at
the least, a reprieve came in
the fact United have a very
similar issue.
Although Michael Carrick is
positionally excellent and
frequently showed Chelsea
how their defensive formation
should have looked, he doesn't
have the presence to make it
properly count. Too many
times, a challenge was too
weak or a move bypassed him.
A telling example came when
he appeared to win the ball of
Eden Hazard only for the
Belgian playmaker to show
greater strength and come
out on top.
A telling moment occurred
when the free-kick from which
Juan Mata scored came in
exactly the area Carrick
should have been patrolling.
Here, of course, the otherwise
impressive Wayne Rooney
deserves criticism given how
he wildly swung at Hazard.
Mata took advantage in
absolutely perfect fashion. A
divine free-kick.
By then a Chelsea goal had
seemed thoroughly inevitable.
From the very moment United
seemed to properly retreat at
around the half-hour mark, it
appeared a serious error.
They didn't have the defensive
fortitude to hold steady.
Once the second half started,
it looked like the only way
United were going to quell the
barrage was to go for
another goal themselves.
Instead, it was no surprise
when Chelsea's cast of
creators reversed the pattern
of the opening minutes of the
first half and completely
unravelled United for Ramires
to head home the equaliser.
From there we had a perfect
case study of the kind of
psychologies and dynamics
that govern these games.
Because, having been in a
position where they were
absolutely dominant, Chelsea
suddenly tightened up.
The game immediately
returned to a rather tense
face-off for the first time
since the second minute. And,
after a compelling first hour in
which all of the game's box-
office stars - Mata, Hazard,
Van Persie, Rooney - had
admirably illustrated their
abilities, it looked like we were
in store for a compelling
showdown and quite possibly
the game of the season.
Then, it turned. Instead, we
endured the type of chaos
that skews everything and
tells us nothing. Amid all that,
though, it should not be
forgotten that the last act
from when the game was still
a fully-complemented contest
was an exquisite Van Persie
turn and through ball to set
up Ashley Young.
Under contact from Branislav
Ivanovic, though, the winger
went downwards. So,
subsequently, did the quality
of the match.
Six minutes later, Chelsea
were reduced to nine men.
Twelve minutes later, Javier
Hernandez won the game. Out
of all that, two points should
be clarified. First of all, Di
Matteo himself admitted
Ivanovic probably deserved to
be sent off. Secondly, Sir Alex
Ferguson conceded that the
winning goal was hugely
fortunate, given that
Hernandez was clearly offside.
It's the in-between, however,
which is all open to so much
heated discussion. Because,
while Chelsea may well have
still had a chance to win the
game with 10 men, being
reduced to nine effectively
negated it as a contest
altogether. And the main
question is whether Fernando
Torres should have been sent
off.
Despite the fact it ultimately
seems harsh, not even multiple
replays could lead to a
definitive conclusion either
way. From there, all we can do
is outline the multiple caveats.
First of all, there was Torres'
initial yellow card, a pretty
abrasive challenge on Tom
Cleverley. Secondly, there was
Johnny Evans' challenge.
Contact was made. Of that
there is no doubt. What is up
for discussion, though, is the
extent of it and whether
every mistimed tackle is a foul
and every mis-step a dive.
Because, just as it was difficult
to make out how much
contact there was, it was
equally tough to make out
whether Torres theatrically
threw himself to the ground
after the incident, merely lost
his balance or was outright
fouled.
If all that doesn't prove
whether it was a truly a
second yellow, though, it does
lead to two important
conclusions. For one, it's unfair
to criticise referees for making
potentially defining decisions
on split-second views,
particularly when multiple
replays don't reveal the truth.
Two, however, if Mark
Clattenburg is not 100% sure
that Torres has dived then it
is very wrong to send him off.
For that, the referee
deserves criticism.
Similarly, Di Matteo wasn't so
much critical of the individual
decisions but aggrieved that
all of the borderline decisions
appeared to go United's way.
"It's a shame that a game like
this has to be decided in that
manner... the key decisions
were wrong, and all in favour
of the opposition," he said.
Ultimately, the table still just
about favours Chelsea. They
lead by a point. This game
seemed to come quite close to
answering whether they're
complete enough a team to
stay there until the end of
the season... before opening up
an array of other questions.