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Chelsea preserved their four-and-a-half year unbeaten home league record when Salomon Kalou headed to equalise Park Ji-Sung's opener for Manchester United and earn a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

It is now four years and seven months since Chelsea last lost a league game at the Bridge, but United looked set to put an end to that run for the majority of the 90 minutes in west London.

United took the lead after 18 minutes through Park, who finished from close range after Petr Cech saved a low drive from Dimitar Berbatov following excellent work by Patrice Evra.

Chelsea drew level when substitute Kalou rose unmarked in the visiting penalty area to head home a John Obi Mikel free-kick with 10 minutes remaining.

The draw is no less than Chelsea deserved after dominating the attacking play, yet United always looked a threat on the break and could have extended their lead.

The match started at a frenetic pace as both teams went after an early goal. Chelsea had lost midfield fulcrum Deco to injury in the warm-up and so started with Michael Ballack, who had returned to the squad after injury.

The first chance fell to Darren Fletcher on six minutes after the ball broke out wide to Owen Hargreaves following a boisterous challenge from Paul Scholes. The cross from the right was met by Scot Fletcher in the centre of the box, but Ricardo Carvalho flew across to block and prevent a goal.

Three minutes later Chelsea goalkeeper Cech came out his area to deal with a long ball forward and succeeded only in giving the ball to Berbatov on the left-hand touchline. He looped it forward towards the edge of the box where Wayne Rooney helped it on, but a relieved Cech saw it drop past the post as he retreated.

The full-blooded nature of the encounter claimed its first casualty as Carvalho was forced off - replaced by Alex - with a knee injury. It is feared that the Portugal centre-half has serious ligament damage.

There was a running battle throughout the afternoon between home left-back Ashley Cole and Owen Hargreaves, while late tackles and dissent littered proceedings and saw seven visiting players booked - only Mikel was cautioned for Chelsea.

United centre-half Rio Ferdinand could have scored two minutes before the opening goal. He won the ball in midfield and continued his run as Berbatov found Rooney; the England striker cut inside and played in his international team-mate, whose shot from an angle on the right was saved by Czech shot-stopper Cech.

Soon enough though United were in front after Evra battled on the left side of the penalty area to win the ball and opted to pull it back to Berbatov instead of shooting. His shot was saved, but Cech could do nothing about the follow-up from Park.

Edwin van der Sar was hurt in a challenge with Florent Malouda - for which the home fans wanted a penalty, although it seemed fair - and left the match with a quarter of an hour to go in the first period, replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak.

Scholes and Ferdinand both went into Mike Riley's book, the former for a mistimed tackle and latter for dissent. The referee seemed intent from the start on penalising any challenges of strength; however that did not affect the flow as the attacks went from end to end.

Before the break Lampard played in Anelka on the right and the France striker shot over the near post with Joe Cole in the middle. Soon after Kuszczak saved from Alex and Anelka almost got to the rebound as Ferdinand came across quickly to concede a corner.

Rooney then took the ball cleanly from John Terry on the right and cut across the pitch, playing it inside to Berbatov who helped it on to Park when he could have shot himself. The pass to the Korean was poor and Chelsea survived his effort on goal.

There were fewer clear-cut chances in the second half as United dug in and Chelsea applied pressure in the final third. Cristiano Ronaldo replaced Scholes and introduced pace into the occasional breaks out of defence, but had no joy.

Neville and Berbatov went into the book before Joe Cole went clear on the left, only to see Kuszczak stand tall to block his left-footed shot from an angle.

Mikel saw yellow before Luiz Felipe Scolari introduced Kalou for the fatigued Ballack, but in between Anelka missed a golden chance to level for the Blues.

Joe Cole played an inch-perfect cross to give the France striker the chance to finish from a few yards out with the goal gaping, but he contrived to miss the ball completely.

Didier Drogba had come on at half-time for Malouda but could not make an impression following his ankle injury: the immediate danger for the Red Devils was from Joe Cole, Mikel and Kalou.

Rooney found the side-netting from 10 yards out on the right when he should have scored and put the game beyond Chelsea then was booked for a late challenge; a minute later Chelsea scored when the away defence left Kalou alone to nod home as Kuszczak remained on his line.

Kalou could then have won it barely two minutes later when he shot over following a Neville block. Evra and Ronaldo were the final players to be booked before the latter tried a late overhead kick, saved comfortably by Cech.

Riley blew up for full-time as Drogba took his time over regaining his feet following the award of a free-kick on the edge of the box, the confusion bringing an end to an entertaining encounter that saw Chelsea move second behind Arsenal.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport