Manchester United travelled to Chelsea having finally secured a win in 2014 at home to Swansea, but despite this they were still without their star strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie for this match at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were looking for the three points that would put them in touching distance from Arsenal at the top of the league.
Danny Welbeck was chosen to lead the line again in the absence of Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie, with Ashley Young and Phil Jones also starting after returning from injury. Adnan Januzaj was picked to play in the hole behind Danny Welbeck as Shinji Kagawa started on the bench. David Luiz started in midfield for Chelsea with Samuel Eto'o picked to start ahead of Fernando Torres up front.
Following their form this season United were the underdogs going into the game but nobody seemed to tell them this as they certainly looked the stronger side in the opening ten minutes as Chelsea were largely penned in their own half. It wasn't long before they had an attempt on goal either, as a lovely one-two between Young and Welbeck allowed the former to test Cech from the left. The Czech keeper made a good save though and parried the ball away, the rebound just missing Welbeck.
United really should been ahead and it was testament to their bad luck this season when on 18 minutes a long-range deflected shot from Eto'o looped over the head of De Gea to put Chelsea ahead. Eto'o showed good footwork to take the ball past Jones and cut inside before sending a left-footed shot towards goal that clipped the outstretched leg of Carrick and curled into the net.
The match certainly became more even after the goal, although United should have been on level terms towards the end of the first half having scorned a brilliant chance to equalise. Januzaj, who had showcased his talent throughout the first half, sent a cross into the box that somehow evaded the Chelsea players and slowly trickled into the path of Welbeck. Almost not expecting it to reach him, the striker reacted as quickly as he could but under pressure from Azpilicueta his shot was weak and straight into the arms of Cech.
Both sides then went close as Januzaj had a shot blocked and Oscar put the ball wide after a good Chelsea break. The home side began to look the team more likely to score in the final few minutes of the half and through the clinical figure of Eto'o went 2-0 ahead right on the stroke of half time. The former Barcelona man had broken United hearts before with a goal in the Champions League final in 2009 and this goal put clear daylight between Chelsea and United. It was a devastating blow for Moyes' men who, although lacking in form recently, had actually performed quite well at times in this first half.
The goal came from a Cahill cross in from the right and fell perfectly for Eto'o, whose nearest marker Vidic was too slow to put him off allowing him to coolly side-foot home for his second of the game. The second half began with more joy for Chelsea and more misery for United as they were put clearly on the back-foot from the off and Eto'o got his hat-trick within three minutes of the re-start. The Cameroonian couldn't have asked for an easier goal as a Willian corner caused chaos in the box. Cahill got up with a decent header that De Gea kept out but Eto'o was ready to pounce and tapped in the rebound for his hat-trick goal.
United found a small consolation when Hernandez turned in Jones' cross-cum-shot 14 minutes from time after good work from Welbeck but it wasn't enough to turn the game, regardless of their efforts to make it a close finish. Their afternoon then went from bad to worse in injury time as Vidic needlessly lunged in on Hazard, who was going nowhere, and was subsequently shown a straight red card by referee Phil Dowd.
Rafael then received a yellow card for a two footed lunge on Cahill that looked more of a red card than Vidic's challenge. The Brazilian was clearly frustrated at the way the game had gone but can count himself very lucky he didn't follow Vidic down the tunnel. Phil Dowd then blew the whistle to put United out of their misery and give the blues the three points they desperately needed to remain in contention for the title.
United's next game is another tough test, this time in the Capital One Cup against Sunderland, as they must overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg if they are to confirm their place in an all-Manchester final at Wembley in March. This would give the fans something to shout about for the first time this season after a league campaign that has been frustrating and poor.
No comments:
Post a Comment