Chelsea Vs. Manchester United Result Report

United slipped to a late defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to leave the title race very much in the balance.

Michael Ballack scored the dramatic winner from the penalty spot with five minutes left after Michael Carrick had handled in the box.

Chelsea dominated the first half and Ballack gave them into a deserved half-time lead when he headed home Didier Drogba’s cross.

But United improved greatly after the break and Wayne Rooney looked set to have earned a crucial point when he took advantage of a Ricardo Carvalho mistake to fire home.

Goal difference is now all that separates the sides at the top of the table, but United know that wins over West Ham and Wigan in the final two games will guarantee them the title.

The Reds suffered a further blow when Nemanja Vidic, named in the starting line-up after recovering from a stomach virus which kept him out of the draw in Barcelona on Wednesday, was forced off with a nasty-looking facial injury in the first 10 minutes.

With the second leg of the Champions League semi-final coming up on Tuesday, it was no surprise to see changes to Sir Alex Ferguson’s starting line-up.

Darren Fletcher made a surprise return from a month-long injury absence and Mikael Silvestre replaced Patrice Evra at left-back. Nani, Anderson and Ryan Giggs all started, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez named on the bench.

Chelsea, defending an unbeaten home record in the Premier League stretching back to February 2004, were nearly gifted a goal in the opening 30 seconds.

Wes Brown’s poor header back to Edwin van der Sar forced the goalkeeper to scramble clear and the ball fell to Michael Essien, who volleyed just over.

Van der Sar saved low to his left from Salomon Kalou a minute later as Chelsea began purposefully.

Vidic, who has often put his body on the line this season, then took a stray knee to the face from Drogba and was stretchered off looking bloodied and groggy.

Owen Hargreaves replaced him and took his place at right-back, with Brown shuffling into the middle alongside Rio Ferdinand.

Chelsea continued to threaten and Kalou galloped into the box but was crowded out by United’s defence as he was about to pull the trigger.

United had an escape in the 21st minute when Joe Cole sprinted into the box and, after initially losing the ball, he regained it and smacked the bar with van der Sar beaten.

Essien was controlling the midfield for Chelsea in the absence of Frank Lampard, who missed the game following the death of his mother on Thursday.

Avram Grant’s side were playing a one-touch, high-tempo game and, although United conceded several free-kicks, that at least disrupted Chelsea’s rhythm.

United looked to have stemmed the Chelsea tide and were set to go in level at the break when Ballack broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.

Drogba held off the attentions of three Reds defenders on the right before clipping a cross over to Ballack, who arrowed a header past van der Sar.

The Germany international was booked for removing his shirt in the ensuing celebrations, while the Chelsea players raised another shirt aloft in tribute to Lampard’s mother.

Ferguson made no changes at the break but the Reds’ attacking intent at the start of the second half was much more apparent as they forced Chelsea onto the backfoot.

Brown was booked for impeding Essien but soon after the Reds were level through Rooney’s first career goal against Chelsea.

Carvalho played a lazy backpass to Petr Cech which Rooney pounced on gleefully, before cutting across John Terry and firing past Cech. Cue rapturous celebrations.

Unsurprisingly, the goal put an extra spring in United’s step and they began to find more space in Report: Chelsea 2 United 1

the final third, with Giggs forcing Cech into a smart save from the edge of the box.

Rooney, who appeared to injure himself while celebrating his goal, was forced to leave the field in the 64th minute, but the sight of Ronaldo replacing him won’t have pleased Chelsea’s increasingly forlorn supporters.

John O’Shea came on for the tireless Anderson shortly afterwards and, after a poor first half, suddenly everything looked rosy for the Reds.

But just as they looked set to hold out for a vital point, they were hit by a killer blow.


Referee Alan Wiley waved away Chelsea’s appeals for a penalty with nine minutes left when Brown appeared to handle the ball in the box, but two minutes later his assistant awarded a spot-kick against Carrick for the same infringement.

In Lampard’s absence, Ballack stepped up to send van der Sar the wrong way and keep Chelsea in the title race.

In a frantic finale, Ashley Cole and substitute Andriy Shevchenko blocked shots from Ronaldo and Fletcher on the goalline, but Chelsea held on – and the title race is going to the wire.