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The much anticipated title decider at Old Trafford didn't disappoint as the top two sides in the Premier League played their part in an exhilarating encounter. Manchester United made a blitzkrieg of a start as Javier Hernandez opened the scoring within the first minute. A rampaging United were two goals to the good midway through the 1st half as Nemanja Vidic headed in from a well worked corner. Chelsea were winded by United's whirlwind start as Old Trafford broke into a celebratory mood.

But Chelsea made things interesting by pulling a goal back with twenty minutes to go as Frank Lampard scored from close range. United had numerous chances to finish the game, but they failed to take their opportunities. But they defended valiantly in the final minutes of the game as they held on to seal the win and possibly the title. With the win, Manchester United moved to 76 points, six clear of Chelsea. They need to pick up just a point from their two remaining fixtures against Blackburn (away) and Blackpool (home) to lift their 19th League title.

Sir Alex Ferguson brought back all his big-game players following the walkthrough against Schalke in mid-week. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic returned in the centre of defence while Fabio Da Silva and John O'Shea took up the full back positions, with Patrice Evra missing out through injury. Ferguson stuck with the same formula that brought him success against Chelsea in the Champions League as Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick formed the central midfield pairing, with Park Ji-Sung and Antonio Valencia starting down the wide positions. Up front, Javier Hernandez was entrusted with troubling John Terry while Wayne Rooney played in the free-roaming role.

Carlo Ancelotti had only one selection headache before kick-off and the recent form of Didier Drogba ensured that the Italian manager had no option but to start with Fernando Torres on the bench. Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou provided support on the wings, with Frank Lampard and Michael Essien controlling play from midfield. Jon Obi Mikel sat in front of the back four, which comprised of Terry and David Luiz in the centre with Branislav Ivanovic and Ashley Cole covering the wide areas.

The game got off to an explosive start as United took the lead from the start, 36 seconds to be precise. Ryan Giggs played Park through and the Korean released Hernandez, who burst past Luiz to slot the ball past Petr Cech from a one-on-one situation. Mikel's failure to get close to Rooney was causing huge problems for the visitors as the striker unleashed a thunderous strike from distance and was denied only by Cech's fingertips. Another chance fell United's way within the first ten minutes as a short free-kick by United allowed Park to dink a ball to the far post, where Hernandez was put off by a slight Luiz touch.

A rampaging United then ripped open Chelsea with a quick-fire counter attack, which ended with Rooney's strike flying inches wide of the post. Out of the blue, Chelsea had a sight at goal as Edwin van der Sar punched away Drogba's header and then got down to save Kalou's follow up. But all the action was at the other end where the Red Devils made it 2-0 after 23 minutes as Vidic powered Giggs's cross past Cech with his head. Chelsea finally found some breathing space following United's breathtaking start as they responded to the goal by creating a chance of their own at the other end as Kalou forced Van der Sar into a fine save after Malouda's corner caused havoc.

The Dutchman in goal was called into action again a few minutes later as he produced a fine save to stop Drogba's powerful free-kick. United were rightfully taking it slow after going 2-0 up and but for Mikel's last ditch tackle they would have made it 3-0 just before the break as Valencia played a dangerous cross into the box. The half-time whistle gave Chelsea a welcome break from United's pummelling and they would consider themselves fortunate to have 11-men on the field after Ivanovic, already on a yellow, was guilty of two poor challenges on Rooney.

At the restart, Ancelotti brought on Alex and Ramires for Luiz and Mikel respectively while Jonny Evans came on for the injured O'Shea. United had an early shout for a penalty as Lampard seemed to have cleared Valencia's cross with his raised arms, but Howard Webb, who had given United penalties on 3 of his last 4 visits to Old Trafford, waved away United's protests. Chelsea were seeing quite a lot of the ball, but their lack of width made it easy for Manchester United to keep them at bay. United's pace on the counter was on witness once again as Valencia stole the ball before bearing down on Chelsea's goal.

But Chelsea did get a goal back in the 68th minute as Lampard poked in from close range after being played through by Ivanovic's header. It was a lifeline for the Blues, who almost let United regain their two goal lead moments later as Alex made a goal line clearance to deny Rooney's effort. Chelsea were definitely on the up following the goal, as they put United's defence under considerable pressure. But United finally found some space down the other end and should have stretched their lead had it not been for Rooney's wastefulness in front of goal. Rooney thrice found himself in goal scoring positions in a space of a few minutes, but was denied by Cech and Alex.

With the clock ticking down, Hernandez had a glorious opportunity to seal the points, but he uncharacteristically mistimed his jump to place Valencia's cross over the bar. United held on through four minutes of added time to seal the 2-1 victory as Old Trafford erupted.

Sir Alex Ferguson set his side up to win the game and they came out of the blocks to consign Chelsea to 2nd place. Park and Valencia were immense for the Red Devils as they ran Chelsea ragged. Chelsea were abject in the first half hour and Ancelotti will feel that is were they lost the game. The momentous title number 19 beckons for the Red Devils and the players' reaction at full time showed what it means to the club as a whole.

Teams:

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Fabio Da Silva (Smalling 88'), Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea (Evans 46'), Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Park, Rooney, Hernandez.

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, David Luiz (Alex 46'), Cole, Mikel (Ramires 46'), Lampard, Essien, Kalou (Torres 62'), Drogba, Malouda.

Final Score: Manchester United 2–1 Chelsea

Goals: Hernandez 1', Vidic 23', Lampard 69'

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File Photograph Copyright: Ed Schipul