Man United Vs Chelsea Liveblog

By: Rob | January 11th, 2009

Sorry this is going up so close to the game, but I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it till the last minute. Hopefully some stragglers will come and notice that I’m doing it and we can talk about the game, anyway.

So here we are, Man United playing host to Chelsea, and in the unfamiliar situation of neither being top of the league (Liverpool are, but they suffered another 0-0 yesterday). Chelsea need to win to get back into the race with Liverpool, while United – with their games in hand – know that a win today will push Chelsea back into third favourites. I predict a riot.

Opening news, Chelsea were evacuated from their hotel earlier.

Streaming Here
Full Liveblog after the jump

Manchester United 3 – 0 Chelsea

FULL TIME – So its all over. A Limp second half display from Chelsea means that United just rolled them over after Vidic’s goal just before the break. United now one point behind Chelsea, but if they win both their games in the next week, they’ll be top of the league again.

92 – Evans stops Drogba again. Evans has been absolutely amazing today.
90 – Chelsea’s first shot in ages is a limp Ballack header.
- I have to keep reminding myself that this Chelsea side has such good players, they look so ordinary at the moment.
86 – GOAL - in the build up to the cross, from the FK, Vidic whispered something to Berba, and Berba has obviously taken it on board, as he skips past the defence, and bangs it in the net. 3-0.
85 – Belleti is pissed off, but he probably feels better as he just hacked out Ronaldo.
Its Joe Cole Sub Time! Rafael di Santo is on for Cole this week.
- Chelsea look like they aren’t playing anymore.
83 – Ronaldo nearly made up for it – Sloppy Joe Cole pass gives Ronaldo the ball, and he nearly sticks it in from 20-something yards.
82 – Berbatov plays Ronaldo in – Ronaldo is not offside – but he is given offside, and he sticks the ball in the net, but it won’t count.
81 – Ronaldo FK hits the top of the wall, and lands on the roof of the net
80 – Terry’s booked, I didn’t see the tackle.
79 – Giggs has come off, for Mickey Carrick. Giggs has had a good game overall, despite a few misplaced passes.
77 – Man United are almost pissing about now – Johnny Evans comes forward to put in a great 30 yard pass.
74 – Long Ronaldo effort blocked, I think by one of the Cole Brothers.
72 – Really bad miskick from Drogba there. Well, well wide.
70 – Deep cross from Rooney, but Cech beats Park to the ball. Not too surprising…
66 – Terry tackles Park, but makes no contact, Park down anyway, booking for Park.
- John o’Shea on for an injured Patrice Evra.
65 – Rooney loses the ball to Carvalho, kicks him. Booked.

- Chelsea have it all to do now. Bosingwa has come off for FM favourite Belletti.

62 – GOAL! - Ronaldo sits on the edge of the box, plays a beautiful reverse pass to Evra, who’s cross finds Rooney, and its 2-0.
60 – Ronaldo tries to get Berbatov to run onto the ball. Never gonna happen.
59 – Ronaldo runs into Mikel, wins a FK. He shoots and wastes the FK.
- The Man United fans are cheering because Tevez is warming up.
57 – Rooney, Park, Giggs all cueing up in the box, but Ronaldo can’t get the cross pass Bosingwa.
55 – Beautiful feed to Lampard who holds the ball up in the penalty box to Drogba who puts it out for a throw.
52 – Clever ball from Giggs to play in Park, but it never really fell for him.
51 – VDS is wasting time already.
50 – Berbatov is chucked off the ball unceremoniously by Mikel there.
46 – Beautiful pass from Lampard plays in Drogba, but brilliant saving tackle from Evans.
- Deco apparently has a knock, this isn’t a tactical change by Chelsea.
45 – Cech opens this half with a good clearance.

Teams are coming back out, Chelsea are bringing Anelka on it seems. Deco off, so we’re back to 442 for Chelsea.

Half Time - So its 1-0 to United. The game has been really even, and has looked like it might get exciting, but United really turned it up in the last few minutes of the half.

45+1 – GOAL - Oh goodness. From the retake, Vidic has stuck it in anyway. 1-0 United.
45 – The balls in the net, but it’s not gonna count, Corner to Man United, but the ball was never in the D, and Giggs just dribbles off to cross to Berba who knocks it in.
44 – Again, United should have scored. Ronaldo hits it on the edge of the box, and Fletcher comes in on the rebound, but deflected for a corner.
43 – Should have been a goal, Park and Ronaldo playing a beautiful 1-2 in the box, and Park’s shot is going in, but Terry dives in the way and stops it.
42 – Johnny Evans plays a rubbish header and Giggs shouts at him for awhile. Which would be fine, except Giggs’ passing has left alot to be desired today.
40 – great play by Chelsea around the box, but Ballacks eventual cross finds no-one but Evra.
- I’m quite jealous of Park Ji-Sung, how does any man have that much energy?
37- Chelsea trying to create a chance but Man united’s marking proving really effective.
- Not that much is happening to be honest. I’m still here. Chelsea have a corner.
32 – Lampard plays in Ashley Cole, who crosses in to a falling Ballack and Drogba makes a weak shot.
30 – Rooney with a great little ball to Berbatov, who takes a lovely touch, and he should score, but his weak shot is caught by Cech
27 – Ronaldo and Rickie Carvalho both go down in the box from the FK. Carvalho was holding Ron’s shirt, Ronaldo went down easy. They started shouting at each other afterward, Chelsea Free-kick, both booked.
26 – Bosingwa booked for a bit of a revenge tackle on Rooney.
25 – Ballack backheel sets up Lampard but Vidic gets in the way.
24 – Crazy days, Bosingwa breaks down the left wing, and of all people Rooney is covering at Right Back, Bosingwa does him, and Rooney gives him a bit of a slap. Rooney not booked. Rafa gets angry, and Fergie strokes his chin whispering “These aren’t the driods your looking for”.
- Ronaldo’s FK goes wide, deflected for a CK.
23 – Crazy tackle/block from Joe Cole brings down Rooney.
22 – Giggs shoots, Cech saves.
21 – Ashley Cole just handled the ball, literally on the line of the penalty area, Ref gives a FK not a pen.

20 – Impressively, Deco just tackled both G-Nev and Ronaldo at the same time.
18 – Bosingwa breaks but Giggs does well to shepherd the ball out the game.

16 – Calls from Chelsea for handball from Evra, i couldn’t really see it, but he’s dived t’ward the ball.
- Question. Why does John Obi-Mikel always shoot outside the box? Has he ever actually scored from such a scenario?
13 – great play from Deco feeds Lampard who tries to play a 1-2 with Drogba but Drogba fell over.
12 – Ballack drills it at the wall.
11 – Fletcher hacks down Deco just outside the box.
10 – Giggs briefly ran at full pace there, and I suddenly had flashbacks to the old days. His past went astray however.
6 – Beautiful cross from Ronaldo is spilt by Cech, but he gets clear. He looks nervy.
4 – Ryan Giggs in “Corner cleared at the near post shocker”
3 – Lampard has been booked for a tackle on Ronaldo. Seems like a warning would have done. Obviously I’m saying that because he’s in my fantasy team.
2 – Good bit of early build up from the Chelsea midfield, but a nervous shot from Lamaprd goes well wide.
1 – Petr Cech slices his first clearance – A sign of things to come?
1 – We’re off!

I thnk my stream is slightly behind, but the teams are lining up.

Looking at the teams (below), I can see a few interesting battles – Johnny Evans is gonna need a big game against Drogba – although he’ll have Vidic help (why is Phil not playing two up top in a game like this?), The English grit of Terry against the stylish flash of the Berb, and Fletcher is gonna have to be on his game to watch Frank Lampard’s forward runs.

Confirmed Teams:
Van der Sar, Neville, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Giggs, Park, Berbatov, Rooney.
Subs: Kuszczak, Anderson, Carrick, Scholes, Welbeck, O’Shea, Tevez.

Cech, Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Ashley Cole, Mikel, Joe Cole, Lampard, Ballack, Deco, Drogba.
Subs: Cudicini, Ivanovic, Di Santo, Ferreira, Kalou, Belletti, Anelka.

So Rio hasn’t made it, and Phil has dropped the Prem’s top scorer. Interesting.

So half hour to kick off, and so many questions to ponder. Will Fergie’s impression on Derren Brown work on Scolari as well as Rafa? Will Big Phil still be in a job on Monday? Will the European style of Berbatov overcome the old English grit of John Terry?