Manchester United’s grip on the Premier League trophy tightened significantly on Sunday as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side put Chelsea to the sword.
Manchester United’s grip on the Premier League trophy tightened significantly on Sunday as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side put Chelsea to the sword in front of a jubilant
Old Trafford.
Nemanja Vidic’s header on the stroke of half-time was followed by second-half goals for Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov as the champions ran out 3-0 winners in what had been billed as one of the season’s pivotal encounters.
It was a performance which suggested that Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez may come to deeply regret his claim that United had been unsettled by the resilience of his side’s challenge, particularly when it is set against the disjointed display that Benitez’s men produced in Saturday’s goalless draw at Stoke.
In terms of territory and possession, Chelsea’s best spell was the opening half-hour.
Then, United put sustained pressure that was to yield their opening goal.
It began with Park Ji-Sung forcing John Terry into last-ditch block. The ensuing corner resulted in United appealing furiously for a penalty as Darren Fletcher’s miss-hit shot appeared to strike Terry’s outstretched arm just inside the box.
There followed another corner, to which United applied what appeared to be a cleverly conceived training ground ploy with Rooney tapping the ball off the corner before walking away as if he had decided to leave it for someone else. Chelsea’s defence bought the bluff and switched off, allowing Ryan Giggs to pick up the ball and send in a chip that Cristiano Ronaldo headed in at the near post, only for the linesman to flag — mistakenly — that the corner had not been taken legitimately.
It was an incident with almost limitless potential for debate but its impact was neutralised when United scored from the retaken corner.
United then applied the killer blow. Once again Evra played a central role.
Released by Ronaldo’s backheel, the Frenchman whipped in a dipping cross that both Terry and Ashley Cole might have cleared before Rooney prodded it past Cech from close range.
With Chelsea demoralised, Berbatov was able to add a third in the closing minutes, drifting between Michael Ballack and Terry to prod home Ronaldo’s low cross from the left of the box.
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