Reaction: United 2-0 Chelsea
A satisfactory result and performance for United. A match spoiled by a poor referee for Chelsea.
Such is the respective spin being offered by both sides as they digest yesterday’s 2-0 victory which catapulted United into second place in the league and ensured Chelsea continued their worst string of results since 2001.
Sir Alex must have been singing in the bath after this result. “We are starting to look more like ourselves now,” he said. “If we keep together and play as a real team, we will get the right results and be chasing Arsenal.
“We have got Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez looking better with more games. Now we have got Louis Saha back and scoring too.
“Considering the problems, I am more than pleased with how we have played and the fact that we are among the leaders. The players have shown a good team ethic and fine spirit and, though perhaps lacking a finish, we have defended extremely well.
“Good defending is always the foundation of a successful team and we’ve shown plenty of determination in that area to keep us in business.”
Whilst United celebrate, Chelsea look for excuses. Step forward referee Mike Dean whose uneven performance was seized upon by new boss Avram Grant to hide his team’s flaws.
“There were so many things - the sending-off, the fact that they signalled two minutes of extra-time and scored after three, and the penalty,” he said. “Maybe I’m a bit naive. But for me these were decisions that affected the result. In the first half there were 10 minutes of 10 against 11, and in the second half they scored a penalty that was not.”
Grant’s tactic fooled no-one. Dean signalled a penalty that most observers thought was fortunate but failed to point to the spot when Joe Cole bundled Patrice Evra to floor in the 16th minute. Sir Alex said the Obi Mikel challenge was harsh but a player who recklessly jumps into a tackle showing studs should get a red card. Chelsea were lucky to finish the game with 10 men. Joe Cole’s lunge from behind on Ronaldo on 73 minutes was disgraceful.
In truth, United were as good as Chelsea were poor. The effervescence of Rooney showed what United’s attack can be like when fully armed. Ronaldo was always a threat. Tevez scored a neat goal and raised his confidence levels by 100%. The defence rarely looked like being breached and to a man, every Red did his job. Is Saha the new Solskjaer?
Chelsea, on the other hand, had nothing much to offer. The Obi Mikel dismissal might have changed the course of the game in Blue eyes but it was going south in any case. Rarely have Chelsea left the playing field against United having volunteered so little in the way of attacking threat. This is the team that had proved something of a bogey side for United in recent years and yet United played as if they were facing Bolton.
The result completes a wonderful week’s work for Ferguson in which Everton, Lisbon and Chelsea have been seen off with varying degrees of comfort. Only Hargreaves and Neville were missing from the starting line up and the manager will expect both to return within a fortnight.
Officially, only three points were at stake and Sir Alex will be pleased to have claimed them all.
Unofficially, this match may prove to be a new start for a buoyant Ferguson and his team. For Grant, it could be the beginning of the end.
