The Centre Circle

On the day when the boxing Heavyweight Championship of the World was due to be contested in Manchester and David Haye, the current holder paraded his championship belt on the pitch before the match, how appropriate that two of the Premiership’s biggest hitters met head to head at Old Trafford, trying to land a knock-out punch to their rival. Ferguson versus Ancelotti, Manchester United versus Chelsea, red versus blue; last week everyone was anticipating Rooney v Drogba but we were denied this particular sub-plot (50 goals on the season between them) as Rooney was injured and Drogba was left on the substitute bench, having not fully recovered from a recent knee problem, so it was left to those second on the bill Berbatov & Anelka to lead the line and to try to strike the winning blow.

Both teams lined up in similar fashion 4-3-3 and the early sparring saw a slightly sprightlier Chelsea team on the front foot against a more sluggish looking United who seemed not to have recovered from their mid-week trip to Munich. The only chances of note in the first 15 minutes were Joe Cole having a scuffed shot for Chelsea, and Patrice Evra breaking down the left & hitting a low shot that Cech handled easily. Then after 19 minutes, Chelsea struck first. Malouda on the left was allowed to run way too far without a serious challenge on him. On reaching the by-line, he pulled back the ball for Joe Cole to guide a sneaky back heel past Van de Sar in the United goal – only his second of the season. Five minutes later, Park was caught by Zhirkov on the edge of the box, but to the disappointment of the United players and fans, Mike Dean the referee (who has a history of giving penalties, 16 in 24 games this season!) waved away the appeals. The man in black it seemed was in a more lenient mood today, as minutes later Gary Neville appeared to blatantly barge over Anelka as he broke into the box – again no penalty was given. On the stroke of half time, Berbatov was cut down un-necessarily by Terry on the right of the box, but Giggs’ free kick only met a Chelsea head. As half time came, United trooped off clearly having been second best to face the wrath of Sir Alex, after not having had a threatening effort on the Cech goal in first 45 minutes.

The second half began and again Chelsea came out quicker, nearly breaking through early on. Joe Cole turned in midfield, and played a fabulous ball cutting through the United defence to the on-running Ferreira, who jabbed the ball past Van de Sar, but unfortunately for him, also past the far right hand post. The Old Trafford crowd were already starting to get restless, but their mood improved after Evra volley a couple of yards wide. The volume level was raised a touch more as Fletcher went on a run from central midfield, passing to Park who screwed his shot wide. United were now buoyed by this and Berbatov had two chances, heading narrowly wide from Giggs’ right wing cross, then minutes later heading over the bar from Neville’s centre. This was more like it and the pressure mounted, Chelsea at times desperately defending their own box, like a fighter pinned on the ropes. With 20 minutes to go Ancelotti pulled off Cole and Anelka with Kalou and Drogba, Ferguson responded by substituting Scholes for Marcheda. The decisions from both managers had immediate effect. Firstly, Chelsea having cleared their heads after surviving a United battering for 10 minutes made it 0-2; Kalou played a pass through to Drogba who finished emphatically controversially from an offside position. Minutes later, Nani jinked past a couple of Chelsea defenders and his cross-shot fell to Marcheda after Cech parried, making it 1-2. United desperately tried to fight back and as 90 minutes ticked up, Giggs played a lovely pass through to Berbatov who’s half volley couldn’t beat the Chelsea goalkeeper. However, Chelsea held on in injury time to deservedly rack up a huge victory.

United have lost five of their seven league games after playing in Europe and I think it is proof that they do not enough squad depth to cover, especially in attack. They now have to go away and recover before their next test in midweek versus Bayern Munich. How they could have done today with the extra punch of the injured Rooney up front.

Quotes from Ancelotti: "We wanted to be top after this match. It was hard but we played really well. Champions League matches take up a lot of energy and that is why we started the game so quick. We knew that if we played with a high intensity they could have some problems.Now we are the favourites, yes. That's normal when we are back at the top of the league. But nothing is decided. We have to stay composed, quiet and maintain focus in our game."

Quotes from Ferguson "What I can't understand is the linesman's directly in front of it. He has no-one near him and he gets it wrong. A game of that magnitude, you really need quality officials and we didn't get them today. It was a poor, poor performance. Five games left, they're two points ahead and four goals better than us - they're in the driving seat. Chelsea are favourites now, there's no question. I'm certain we'll respond but we could win the next five games and not win it."