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Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to bring a rare high to their stuttering season, while confining the Red Devils to their second loss of the Premier League campaign. A brilliantly taken volleyed finish from January signing David Luiz and a penalty from Frank Lampard was enough to successfully complete Chelsea's second half comeback, after Wayne Rooney had given the visitors the lead 30 minutes into the game with a brilliant shot from outside the box. The result opens up the title race further, with Manchester United still in the lead, but only by four points over Arsenal, who now have a game in hand. For Chelsea, the win puts them in fourth place, above Tottenham, and brings hope of a late rally from the defending champions.

The hosts started with both Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres, who had scored three in his last four league games against Manchester United, leaving legendary Ivorian striker Didier Drogba on the bench again. They played Florent Malouda behind the strikers, with the trio of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Ramires playing in the heart of midfield. New signing David Luiz lined up alongside John Terry at center-half, while Ashley Cole, again under the scanner for a mishap at the Chelsea training ground earlier in the week, lined up at left-back with Branislav Ivanovic pipping Jose Bosingwa to the other full-back's spot.

Manchester United played the same team that took the field against Wigan over the weekend, the first time Sir Alex Ferguson deployed an identical line-up in two successive games since May 2008! Edwin van der Sar started in goal, behind the largely successful new partnership of Chris Smalling and Nemanja Vidic. John O'Shea beat Rafael da Silva to the right back's spot, while Patrice Evra started on the left side of defence. Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick started in the center of midfield, with Nani, league leader with 12 assists, playing on the left wing, and Darren Fletcher having to adjust to an unfamiliar position on the right side of midfield. Upfront, league top-scorer Dimitar Berbatov was again left out, as Javier Hernandez was rewarded for his brace on Saturday with a start, partnering Wayne Rooney in attack.

Thoughts of a dull and defensive game were quelled almost instantaneously, as both teams looked to go on the attack, with a very high tempo to the game from the outset. Malouda had a great chance to open the scoring for Chelsea on five minutes, Ramires caught United on the counter and found Anelka on the right. The Frenchman cut a ball back to the top of the box where his compatriot Malouda had space to shoot, but hit his first time effort was right down Van der Sar's throat. Chelsea were bossing most of the early possession, but without much penetration, as the United defence held firm. At the other end, however, United came narrowly close, as some good interplay between Hernandez and Evra found the latter in the box. Evra sent a teasing cross across the face of the goal, but the ball just evaded Rooney into safety.

Wayne Rooney was in the thick of the action, and was presented with a good chance from Nani's flighted cross, but made a dreadful attempt at scoring, missing the header completely and the ball hitting his shoulder. However, he more than made up for that gaffe with thirty minutes on the clock, as he scored a goal befitting the occasion to put United ahead. Nani cut inside from the left wing to run into a crowd of Chelsea players before passing the ball off to the England striker. None of the Chelsea players seemed too intent on closing him down, and given the chance, Rooney drove a fierce, low shot past the grasp of Petr Cech into the near corner.

Chelsea seemed woken up by the goal, and mounted a spirited response. First, a couple of Malouda's crosses caused problems inside the United box but were hacked away to safety. However, their biggest chance of the half came from a freekick that they won after Torres won a cheap foul off Patrice Evra after both players bundled into each other. Lampard, standing over the freekick, hit a ferocious strike straight at goal, which was parried by Edwin Van der Sar right into Ivanovic's path. The Serbian couldn't however finish with his scrambled attempt, as the Dutch goalkeeper made a spectacular triple save, two of them while on the turf. Chelsea pushed further for the goal, and in probably the last meaningful action of the half, Nemanja Vidic cynically fouled Essien outside the area to earn a deserved yellow card. Ashley Cole this time was given free-kick duties, but lifted his freekick comfortably over as United held a slender lead at the break.

Chelsea started the second half like they started the first, as they held most of the early possession, with United happy to sit back and play on the counter. Chelsea were pushing for a goal, and their persistence finally paid dividends, as they equalised with under ten minutes played after the restart. Essien's cross from the left-hand side wasn't met cleanly by Ivanovic inside the box, but the ball fell for David Luiz, who smashed a glorious volley into the net under pressure from Evra. The celebrations at Stamford Bridge were fanatic, as Chelsea smelled blood. The game started to get stretched, as both sides pushed on to get what could potentially have been the winner. Chelsea brought on forgotten striker Didier Drogba for Anelka, while United made a double change, Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov coming on the visitors. Giggs' appearance was his 606th for the club, equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record.

Tempers were flaring on the field and on the touchlines as Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson were irate at the referee's decision to ignore David Luiz's off-the-ball challenge on Rooney. Had it been given, the foul would have undoubtedly merited a second yellow card and the Brazilian would have been sent off. Referee Martin Atkinson's biggest decision though came on 78 minutes, when he awarded a penalty for Chris Smalling's challenge on substitute Yuri Zhirkov. The decision was a tad controversial, as it could have gone either way, but it stood, and Frank Lampard showed his reliability from the penalty spot, slamming the ball down the middle to complete the Chelsea comeback.

Zhirkov could have doubled Chelsea's lead soon afterwards, but his shot from the edge of the box hit Vidic on its way to the upright and out. The Red Devils pushed for a late leveller, and came close through Fabio, but their willingness to throw bodies forward exposed their defence, and Vidic, who had got cautioned earlier, got his marching orders after a tug from behind on Ramires. Chelsea ran down the clock to finish what could be a decisive result in the context of the title race, while boosting their confidence in the midst of a sub-standard season. For United, its back to the drawing board, as they figure out what went wrong in the second half, that cost them three points and kept their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 4 points. United next travel to Merseyside to play Liverpool over the weekend, and will have to do so without their captain Nemanja Vidic, who will be serving his suspension. With Rio Ferdinanrd and Jonny Evans currently injured, it looks like either John O'Shea will move into the center of defence, or a forgotten hero in Wes Brown could get a rare opportunity in the fiercest derby in the land. Chelsea on the other hand, will go to Bloomfield Road to play Blackpool on Monday.

Chelsea's all-action second half performance will earn them some respite from the media, after weeks of talk about their downfall. For the team, David Luiz was strong at the back as well as a huge presence upfront, and scored a very well-taken goal. Branislav Ivanovic kept Nani relatively quiet throughout the game and was a constant threat in United's box with his heading abilities. Ramires and Michael Essien were the heart of the team, as they incessantly ran the length of the field to support both the attack and the defence. Up front the £50 million man Fernando Torres had a brighter showing than his previous games, but is still to find the back of the net. For Manchester United, Edwin Van der Sar again showed why United will miss the 40-year old, making a string of top-quality saves in the first half. Nemanja Vidic was a rock at the back for most of the game, but got red-carded towards the end as desperation crept into the United team. Patrice Evra gave more reasons to believe that he is indeed the best left back in the land, while Wayne Rooney was a constant threat in attack.

Teams :

Chelsea (4-3-1-2) : Cech, Ivanovic, Cole, Luiz (Bosingwa 81'), Terry, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Malouda (Zhirkov 71'), Anelka (Drogba 61'), Torres

Manchester United (4-4-2) : Van der Sar, O'Shea, Evra (Fabio 81'), Vidic, Smalling, Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes (Giggs 70'), Nani, Rooney, Hernandez (Berbatov 70')

Final Scoreline: Chelsea 2 - 1 Manchester United

Chelsea Scorers: Luiz 54', Lampard 80'

Manchester United Scorer: Rooney 29'

Also Read: Arsenal vs Leyton Orient (preview), Chelsea 2-1 Manchester United (player ratings)

File Photograph Copyright: Ryu Voelkel

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