Kingdom Of Castle Peak

Match Report: At Old Trafford

Manchester United : Chelsea

Both side started with one goal in mind, to win the 3 points in this game and get an upper hand against each other. Everyone was with energy and motivation to bring the ball forward and attack, many attacking chances can be seen during the first few minutes. The match started to create pressure for both teams, with many fouls and conflicts between players. Claude Makalele & Didier Drogba were the two players booked before half-time. And, it was just before 30mins, when Rooney gave a pin-point through pass to Saha, who took his time against two Chelsea defender before slotting in the goal to give Manchester 1-0 ahead at half-time.

Manchester United performance was better in the first half, giving alot of pressure by the four midfield and two striker partnership to the Chelsea's defence, thus a well deserved lead during the break.

Robben came on after the half time break to replace Geremi to provide Chelsea more attacking option with his blasting pace. Chelsea gave a more positive performance in the second half against Manchester United. Both team played well with many chances denied by the defence from either team. Frank Lampard came close into scoring for Chelsea as many shots when by him, but it was Ricardo Carvalho that scored by a thumping heading in the 69th minute to equalised the game. No one was to be blamed for this, but Heinze could have done better against Carvalho which he know himself. Joe Cole was introduced into the game shortly, replacing Urkaine Star, Shevchenko whose performance today was only average at best.

As time is running out, both side were pushing themselves to try to get a winner, testing their physical aspect of both teams. Manchester United players were pushing themselves too hard that both Louis Saha and Christiano Ronaldo had to be subsituted out in the 86th minute. Chelsea was settling with a draw for this fixture as time wasting strategies were put in place by the players, with Manchester United going for an all out counter attack for a late winner.

The game ended after 3 added minute, with the scoreline still 1-1. Manchester United should be pleased with this result as the result still puts them 3-points advantage ahead of current Champion Chelsea chasing after Manchester. Today Man-of-the-Match award is Michael Carrick, although with a yellow card in the game, he played an important part in the pass to Rooney before the goal by Saha. He wasn't involved in the equaliser and gave his all for this match, thus giving him the credit for today's effort. Both side played well today, with equal chances and either side could have stolen a late winner.

Manchester United have their Champion League campaign at risk while Chelsea is sitting easy as they have already booked at place in the last 16.