The game between Manchester United and Chelsea was always going to be an intense one when you consider the previous fixtures between the sides, and the added bonus that both teams needed the three points, but for very different reasons.
Chelsea were desperate to reclaim leadership of the Premier League afterArsenal took the lead on Saturday, while Manchester United ideally needed a win to try and catch up with the top three.
Sir Alex Ferguson opted to start with Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, and it seemed that this was a good idea as Manchester United surged forward with real purpose for the opening period, creating several good chances and putting together some good phases of play before they got their reward on the eighteenth minute. The goal came from South Korean Ji Sung Park after Chelsea goal keeper Petr Cech failed to gather a shot from Dimitar Berbatov.
It was, however, a whole different story in the second half, though, with Chelseataking hold of the game and putting Man United’s Kuszczak under real pressure, with both Joe Cole and Anelka missing good chances. Chelsea did manage to squeeze a late equalizer though: a brilliant cross met the head of substitute Kalouwho made no mistake in converting the ball.
The score line means that Chelsea reclaim second place with Arsenal leading the table, but Manchester United’s season is not going so well, with the ‘Red Devils’sitting in fifteenth place in the Premier League.