Red joy will lead to gleaming gold and blue is nowhere to be
seen. Manchester United – 31 home games
unbeaten – played with greater appetite and a superior speed of
passing from the start. The early whirlwind shook a laboured
Chelsea, who never recovered.
Often the early exchanges shape the pattern of a game and so it
was here. Park Ji-sung created the opening goal and his habit of
coming off the left, often interchanging with Ryan Giggs, helped
his side gain midfield sway. Chelsea, with Michael Essien, Mikel
John Obi and Frank Lampard, should have had an advantage in the
centre over Giggs and Michael Carrick, but with Park cutting in and
Wayne Rooney dropping back they were never comfortable.
United won the key individual battles. Antonio Valencia was too
forceful for Ashley Cole; Carrick monitored Lampard's runs and
Rooney's movement demoralised Mikel. With Park playing so narrow
one would have expected Chelsea to exploit the width on their
right, and it was no major surprise when Carlo Ancelotti brought on
Ramires at half-time to do that. But United manned the spaces
outside the box and defended confidently. Though Lampard touched in
Ramires's cross the home side were comfortable, the ball appearing
drawn towards the head of Nemanja Vidic. Perhaps if the Football
Writers' Association voted for their player of the year by AV, the
defender would have got the recognition he deserves.