Image from armchelsea.com
By Sonia Panesar, Contributor
It seems as though the Manchester United are still recovering from their spirited loss against Madrid.
On March 10, they faced Chelsea in a match that started off extremely well for the United as they had a stunning goal from Javier Hernandez halfway through the fourth minute. Chelsea had a good chance as Frank Lampard took a shot, but United’s Rafael Da Silva made a better save. This didn’t seem to be enough for United, with Chelsea trying to put up a defence that wasn’t enough, as Wayne Rooney sent in another goal in the 10th minute. Three minutes later, Tom Cleverley was penalised for a handball which was shortly followed by a free kick that didn’t convert.
Chelsea and United continued to put up a great fight, with several attempts at goal. However, United’s defence seemed to be too strong to surpass. The energy continued to build as Rooney had a great chance at a goal in the 24th minute, but Petr Cech had a better save.
For each attempt at goal, there seemed to be a foul. Ceser Azpilicueta had a free kick for fouling Hernandez, and further on received a booking for unsportsmanlike behaviour. In the 45th minute, there was a substitution with Luis Nani going in for Antonio Valencia, and slightly after the referee blew the whistle for halftime, leaving the score at 2–0 in favour of Manchester.
Shortly after the second half began, there were some substitutions: Mikel went on for Frank Lampard, and Eden Hazard went on for Victor Moses. Tension began to build as there was a foul against United’s keeper by David Luiz and he was given a booking in return. In the 58th minute, Hazard raised Chelsea’s hope with an amazing goal that was just in the top right corner, made possible with a great pass from Juan Mata. In the 67th minute, United was put in trouble as Chelsea scored again. This time it was a goal from the edge of the penalty box from Nascimento Ramires. Having the scores even sent pressure back onto both teams with approximately 20 minutes left for the match.
The score remained the same, as both of the teams made relentless efforts to score. Several free kicks showed great opportunities, but there was no change. At the end of the match, it was final that both teams were going home with a 2–2 draw.
Sir Alex Ferguson had a few comments to make at the end of the game: “We’re lucky to be in the Cup. We just ran out of legs and Chelsea were the far better team in the second half,” he added. “But I can’t be critical of my side because the running they had to do on Tuesday night, against a really top side in Real Madrid, had its bearing on today’s result, no doubt about that.”
