mancHesTer uNited Latest reSuLt ( Jan 11 2009 )

Sunday 11 Jan 2009

Manchester United (1) 3 vs 0 (0) Chelsea FT
Vidic 45
Rooney 63
Berbatov 87

Premier League
Kick-off: 16: 00
Att: 75455


Match Report


Manchester United turned up the heat on leaders Liverpool after a 3-0 destruction of fellow title challengers Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Goals from Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov moved United into third place.

But ominously for Liverpool, United will overtake them if they win both games they have in hand on the Merseysiders.

The first 45 minutes of the game indicated that a goalless draw would be on the cards.

But as the opening period moved into injury time, the game suddenly exploded into life.

It was sparked by one of the cleverest moves that will be seen in the Premier League this season.

United won a corner on the right. Rooney trotted over and tapped the ball out of the quadrant before nonchalantly walking away.

Over strolled Ryan Giggs and his walk turned to a canter and then a sprint when he touched the ball infield and crossed to the near post where Cristiano Ronaldo headed in from close range.

The assistant referee's flag went up to indicate the corner had not been taken correctly, but the intelligent move should have been rewarded with a goal.

Giggs then stepped up again to drive the second corner into the centre where Berbatov headed the ball to the back post for the unmarked Vidic to nod the ball home from six yards.

United's second goal came in the 63rd minute and from a superb move.

Patrice Evra turned the ball to Ronaldo as he raced down the left.

The Portuguese star back heeled the ball into Evra's path, who continued his run before crossing into the centre of the Chelsea penalty area.

Berbatov produced the faintest of headed flicks and Rooney audaciously tucked his right-foot shot between Chelsea defender Ashley Cole's legs and into the net from six yards.

With three minutes to go, the Red Devils rubbed salt into Chelsea's gaping defensive wounds.

Ronaldo hammered a free-kick from the left and Berbatov met the ball at the near post with his right foot from four yards to net the third.

Ronaldo, Berbatov and Rooney could easily have added to their side's tally as Chelsea suffered their first away defeat of the season in the Premier League.

Chelsea hardly threatened the United goal with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's most difficult moment coming when he claimed Ashley Cole's 15th minute shot in his midriff.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: "They had a lot of good possession at times and they're a threat when they get the ball.

"They've got so many clever players, but we defended well at the 18-yard line so I don't think they really had a clear-cut chance.

"As we've said all along, we've got all the main teams at home and we really need to win those games.

"We've got the first one out of the road, but we've got some tough games coming up now."

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said: "Manchester United were better than us.

"I think it's done some very big damage because we didn't come here to play like this.

"We were thinking about winning the game. Now we need to think about the result, what happened to some players, what happened from set-plays and now we have to think about the future.''

Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra (John O'Shea 66), Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs (Michael Carrick 79), Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, Ji-Sung Park, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney,

Subs not used: Luis de Abreu Anderson, Carlos Tevez, Danny Welbeck, Tomasz Kuszczak, Paul Scholes

Booked: Ji-Sung Park 68, Wayne Rooney 66, Cristiano Ronaldo 28

Chelsea: Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, Jose da Silva Bosingwa (Juliano Belletti 64), Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Souza Deco (Nicolas Anelka 45), Michael Ballack, John Obi Mikel, Joe Cole (Franco di Santo 85), Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba,

Subs not used: Paulo Ferreira, Salomon Kalou, Branislav Ivanovic, Carlo Cudicini

Booked: Juliano Belletti 87, Jose da Silva Bosingwa 27, Ricardo Carvalho 28, John Terry 81, Frank Lampard 4

Attendance: 75455