Chelsea's fresh legs too much for jet-lagged
Manchester United
Manchester United's Gary Neville has had a long
week. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA
On the basis of all evidence this should have been an exalted
occasion. As so often, however, a lunchtime kick-off seemed to take
both teams by surprise, as if they had unexpectedly been shaken
from their sleep. Chelsea suffered that to a far lesser
degree, but the first half was drab. Joe Cole's goal, however, was
slickly constructed and delightfully finished.
There will be arguments about everything else, particularly from
the losers.
Mike Dean had lost his normal tendency to give
penalties, but each team was denied in that regard.
United's disgust about Didier Drogba's
winner from an offside position is all the deeper
because they were in no shape for this test. Even Federico
Macheda's late goal for them could have been disallowed.
The effort was great after the interval, but Chelsea had the
benefit of freshness. It was their opponents who struggled with the
after-effects of last week's Champions League match. There comes a
moment when willpower is asked to take over from flair or strategy.
United had none of their normal verve and even basic proficiency
wavered.
Paul Scholes, a masterful footballer, typified the trouble for
Sir Alex Ferguson when he hit two terrible passes in succession
soon after the interval. The second of them went straight out of
play. His team's sense of direction was so poor in the first half
that they could hardly locate the Chelsea goalmouth.
The visitors were much less careworn and that was entirely
natural. They had appreciated a clear week, with nothing to
distract or undermine them as they considered this encounter. That
advantage was, of course, highly regrettable for Carlo Ancelotti,
his squad and, assuredly, the club's owner Roman Abramovich.
Elimination from the Champions League by Internazionale was no part
of any Stamford Bridge strategy.
None the less, they had a clarity and focus here that their
opponents struggled to attain in the wake of the defeat at Bayern
Munich on Tuesday. It was only the ingrained pugnacity that saw
United pin Chelsea down in their own area for periods after the
interval. The jaded tone could not be shed and that truth was
betrayed by the comparative lack of involvement for the Chelsea
goalkeeper Petr Cech before the late Macheda goal.
Wayne Rooney was certainly missed, but that was, in part, for
the energy he always summons up when taking on a defence
single-handed. Hardly anyone can replicate that, and certainly not
the minimalist Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian is a very fine
footballer but this was exactly the wrong occasion for a languid
personality. United now have to rediscover their dynamism for
Wednesday's rematch with Bayern.
