FOOTBALL Live

Saturday April 26, 2008 Finished Stamford Bridge

Chelsea 2 - Manchester United 1

Chelsea

  • Ballack 45’, 86’ (pen.)

Manchester United

  • Rooney 56’
  1. Ballack strikes for Chelsea

    Ballack strikes for Chelsea

    A controversial late Michael Ballack penalty moved Chelsea level on points with Manchester United following a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Chelsea
    • Manchester United
    • 90+6' IT'S OVER!!! Chelsea have done it!! They are level on points at the top of the table! Finally, a big game lives up to its billing!
    • 90+4' United hoof it forward desperately but it is well defended by Chelsea, who are going level on points at the top.
    • 90+2' A scuffle develops in the Chelsea box, resulting in yellow cards for Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves.
    • 90+1' OFF THE LINE AGAIN!!! Darren Fletcher's header looks destined for the far corner but Andrit Shevchenko of all people denies him!
    • 90' Manchester United wanted a penalty of their own for a challenge on Carrick but there was clearly no foul.
    • 89' Cleared off the line by Ashley Cole!! Ronaldo fires goalwards with his left foot but the England left-back is there to scuff it away!
    • 88' Didier Drogba has also been booked, although it is not clear what for. Pandemonium here.
    • 88' Claude Makelele comes on for Joe Cole as Cristiano Ronaldo attempts a shot straight from the kick-off.
    • 87' Edwin van der Sar was booked in the lead-up to that excellent Michael Ballack penalty, by the way.
    • 86' After much argument from United, Michael Ballack steps up... SCORES!!! Sends Van der Sar the wrong way and Chelsea are back in front!!
    • 84' PENALTY!!! The linesman flags for a handball by Michael Carrick as he blocks Michael Essien's cross. It's a tight call, but it goes Chelsea's way!
    • 83' Anelka meets a low, diagonal ball from the left but slides at it and prods the ball weakly.
    • 82' A long ball finds its way to Drogba, who attempts to bundle the ball messily goalwards. He wants a penalty for a foul by Silvestre, although he (and Brown) both handled it first.
    • 81' There's that change: Shevchenko for Salomon Kalou, who had a great first half before fading.
    • 81' Silvestre races out to the left to make a challenge, leaving the man in the middle completely unmarked. Luckily for him, he clears for a throw.
    • 80' Andriy Shevchenko is getting ready to come on as Grant prepares to aim all his attacking missiles at United.
    • 78' Ronaldo takes the free-kick eventually, but it is a big ask to beat Cech from there and a low, scudding effort is saved by Van der Sar.
    • 77' John Obi Mikel is booked and United have a free-kick within shooting range. Giggs, Hargreaves and Ronaldo have a conference over it.
    • 76' Carvalho again attempts to redeem himself with a volley from the edge of the box but he slices it high over the bar.
    • 74' Mikel goes down with an injury and Drogba continues picking a fight with Ballack!! What is the matter with him?
    • 72' After a protracted argument with Ballack, Drogba FIRES!!! GOOD SAVE VAN DER SAR!!
    • 71' Carvalho fires goalwards from a tight angle and his shot is deflected behind for a corner that is scrambled clear. Nani is pushed over and how is that a Chelsea free-kick? Amazing decision, and a real chance for Chelsea.
    • 69' Ronaldo is flagged for United's sixth offside of the game, and he is then brought down by Ashley Cole who really shouldn't swear at the referee so much...
    • 68' Ronaldo is felled just over 30 yards out and there's not much doubt that he will shoot here... it deflects off the wall to Nani, whose cross is caught by Cech.
    • 66' Here is Nicolas Anelka. He comes on for Paulo Ferreira as Avram Grant goes for broke. He doesn't have much option..
    • 65' Final change from Manchester United - John O'Shea replaces Anderson. Meanwhile Nicolas Anelka is warming up for Chelsea.
    • 65' United will be worried about the state of Wayne Rooney, although we don't have to worry about Euro 2008...
    • 64' Wayne Rooney has been limping since the goal and goes for for Ronaldo, who is straight into the action, appealing for a penalty following some pushing by Ballack at a corner.
    • 63' Now it is United's turn to pass the ball around with some authority before Ryan Giggs fires from distance. It is straight at Cech, who fumbles behind for corner.
    • 62' Anderson skips past a challenge and sprints forward, but his attempted through-ball to Rooney is cut out. That was a dangerous counter-attack from the visitors.
    • 61' Ballack takes it and his powerful effort comes off Nani and Carvalho, going out for a goal kick.
    • 60' Ferreira goes down 25 yards from goal after a seemingly innocuous challenge from Ryan Giggs. Drogba will fancy this one.
    • 59' Chelsea are straight back on the attack and win a corner on their left.. Cole delivers low and poorly to the neear post and it is hoofed clear.
    • 57' What an amazing, uncharacteristic blunder by Carvalho. It came from a Chelsea free-kick just inside their own half and he appeared simply to tread on the ball. A gift.
    • 56' GOAL!!! Manchester United are level out of nothing!! Carvalho loses the ball under no pressure and Rooney races through one on one. He moves to the right of Cech before smashing a low shot in off the left-hand post!!
    • 55' Manchester United win an unnecessary corner from Ashley Cole and Ryan Giggs delivers a high, looping ball that Drogba heads away.
    • 53' Michael Essien wins a free-kick from Wes Brown, who is shown a slightly harsh yellow card for that foul.
    • 52' Nani is in position on the right yet again but his delivery is awful yet again.
    • 50' Nani gets another chance to cross from the right... it hits a defender and spirals to safety. Marginally better from the visitors, though.
    • 49' Cristiano Ronaldo is warming up on the touchline, and the visitors cannot get him on the pitch soon enough.
    • 48' Crossed from the United right into the area but Anderson is never going to win that header with three lanky opponents around him.
    • 47' Drogba plays a neat reverse ball into the box and Ferdinand is forced to sprint across to his left to cut the ball out. And another offside against Wayne Rooney.
    • 46' Chelsea bossed the first half and were extremely positive - have the visitors got any answer after the break?
    • 46' We're back under way! Manchester United have work to do but no more changes yet.
    • 45+5' That's half-time. Chelsea lead, and deservedly so. I fancy we'll see some Cristiano Ronaldo after the break.
    • 45+4' Chelsea work the ball neatly down their right and cross the ball low, but United scramble it away.
    • 45+3' Ballack was indeed booked. Meanwhile, Petr Cech stretches to make a great catch from Nani's corner.
    • 45+2' The Chelsea players held up a shirt with the words 'Pat Lampard R.I.P.' after the goal, while Ballack may well find himself booked for taking his own shirt off. Four minutes of stoppage time to be played, by the way.
    • 45+1' GOAL!!! Chelsea in front through Michael Ballack!!! He escapes his marker and plants his header past Van der Sar from a Drogba cross!
    • 45' Nani goes in late on Ashley Cole, who leaps six feet in the air with a yelp. Referee Wiley has a word with Nani. "Do it again!" he doesn't say.
    • 44' Giggs clips it towards Nani, who mistimes his jump and propels his header high into the crowd.
    • 43' Anderson is arguing with Alan Wiley over something, although I'll confess I have no earthly idea what. Anyway, it's a United free-kick about 40 yards from goal. No Ronaldo to boot it into the crowd.
    • 41' Wayne Rooney is clocked in the back of the head by Carlvalho, with whom he of course has previous. The resultant free-kick is pathetic.
    • 39' Now Fletcher catches Drogba in the face, albeit inadvertently, which riles the Ivorian right up.
    • 38' Darren Fletcher impedes Michael Ballack and is furious at the free-kick award: a dangerous one. Terry heads back towards the danger are and the ball is hooked away.
    • 37' Carrick sends Giggs away down the left, and surprise surprise it's another offside. At least they aren't pinned back in their own box, I suppose.
    • 36' Every time United get the ball forward they go offside. Do Rooney and Nani not know the rules?
    • 35' Drogba collapses in the United box. Oh, let's be charitable. It was a 'tangle of legs' with Mikael Silvestre. Alan Wiley thinks so, anyway.
    • 34' John Terry meets a swirling free-kick but sends his free-kick high over the bar.
    • 33' How can this be the same team that appeared to be cruising to the title with an exhilarating brand of attacking football? Manchester United look timid, overawed and hopeless in possession. This title race ain't over yet.
    • 31' Chelsea play a free-kick forward from just inside the opposition half. It is worked towards Joe Cole who shoots from an angle at the edge of the six yard box but fires wide.
    • 30' There are plenty of vexed faces down on the visiting bench. United have been hammered so far. The only consolation is that they are still level.
    • 28' Drogba's shot is charged down and it is another Chelsea corner. It is headed away by the first man once more.
    • 27' Silvestre shows his rustiness with a late sliding tackle for which he is very lucky not to get booked.
    • 26' Joe Cole nearly jigs his way past Van der Sar on his way to a certain goal. The keeper has taken a boot in the shoulder from Cole, and the last thing United want is another injury.
    • 25' Rooney is at the edge of the box to hoof the corner away, but being the furthest United player forward he just hands possession back to Chelsea.
    • 24' Now it is Mikel's turn to surge forward and Fletcher sticks out a leg to prod the ball behind for a corner.
    • 23' A rare moment in possession for the visitors, who have seen just 34 percent of the ball in the first quarter of the match. It comes to nothing.
    • 21' Joe Cole spurns a golden opportunity to play Essien in but the rebound falls to him and he FIRES!! OFF THE WOODWORK!! The ball rattles the angle of bar and post in the top-right corner!
    • 20' One of Nemanja Vidic's teeth has gone through his lip, hence the blood. But it may mean he is not out for long. Prepare the chinstrap..
    • 19' Hargreaves loses possession to Kalou, who is having a great game. The United player wins it back with what looks like a push but referee Wiley says play on.
    • 17' Didier Drogba is on the floor again. In fairness to him he wasn't appealing so much for a penalty as a corner. he gets neither, but Chelsea's domination of the game continues.
    • 16' Giggs flicks a Rooney cross in the direction of Nani, but the Portuguese's attempted pull-back finds a Chelsea player.
    • 15' Nani carries the ball forward on the counter-attack after a free-kick is cleared. He has space to fire off a long-range shot but it whistles high and wide.
    • 14' Manchester United change: Owen Hargreaves replaces Vidic. He will go to right-back with Wes Brown shifting to the centre.
    • 14' Kalou bursts through the centre and then collapses to the turf. Referee Wiley says get up. Still a promising moment for the hosts.
    • 13' United are a man short defending the corner but Ferdinand heads it away easily enough. Chelsea come straight back at them and are clearly enjoying the better of these early moments.
    • 12' We are finally back under way as Vidic is carried off on a stretcher. Chelsea win a corner on their right.
    • 10' Vidic has a bloody mouth and does not look steady on his feet. Terrible news for the visitors. John O'Shea is up and warming up. Looks like Vidic will have to come off.
    • 8' Nani fouls Ashley Cole and John Terry will knock a long free-kick.. it's easily cleared by Vidic who stays down and needs treatment.
    • 7' He's a big chap that Kalou. At least he is next to Nani, whom he easily muscles off the ball before winning a free-kick.
    • 5' Ashley Cole upends Darren Fletcher, and being Cole the foul obviously elicits a much greater reaction from the visiting fans. Let's just say he's not a popular man.
    • 4' Wayne Rooney strays offside but United will at least be encouraged to have mounted an attack.
    • 3' Nani is bundled over near the Chelsea corner flag but referee Alan Wiley and his assistant are having none of it. Goal kick.
    • 2' Essien has another shot! It's a weak left-foot effort but United were ripped apart by an excellent Kalou dribble through the centre.
    • 1' Panic at the back from United!! Wes Brown puts Van der Sar in trouble with a terrible back header. Kalou wins the ball and supplies Essien, whose shot flies over. But a nervous start from the visitors.
    • 1' We're a couple of minutes behind schedule - possibly as a result of those delaying tactics but it is now game on! Chelsea kick off playing from right to left in their blue shirts and shorts. United also sport their 'home' kit, which makes a nice change.
    • - It is a lovely Saturday afternoon in south-west London, and a slightly hungover Stamford Bridge crowd is in pretty good voice as the teams come out. Chelsea are wearing black armbands in honour of Frank Lampard's mum.
    • - Joe Cole is the only Chelsea player in the tunnel at the moment - it's not clear what the others are up to but little Joey is getting some pretty good death stares from the visitors.
    • - Chelsea have had an extra day to recover after their Champions League semi-final first leg and also have 24 hours more before their midweek return match against Liverpool. Consequently Avram Grant fields his strongest available side apart from Frank Lampard, who misses the game following the sad news of his mother's death.
    • - Some interesting team news: Cristiano Ronaldo is only on the bench, as is Carlos Tevez, while Paul Scholes is not even in the squad. Ronaldo looks happy enough, though, showing off a comically diverse array of skills in the warm-up.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Chelsea versus Manchester United from Stamford Bridge. It may not quite be the title-decider it has been billed as, but this game is crucially important. If United avoid defeat they will almost certainly retain their championship. If Chelsea win they go level on points at the top.

  • Team Stats

    Chelsea Stats Manchester United
    59% Possession 40%
    19 Shots 9
    8 Shots on target 5
    2 Saves 2
    8 Corners 3
    16 Fouls 15
    0 Offsides 6
    3 Yellow cards 4
    0 Red cards 0
    9 Tackles 27
    313 Accurate passes 185
    45 Bad passes 33

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Chelsea
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Petr Cech 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 2 0
      6 Ricardo Carvalho 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 25 0 2
      3 Ashley Cole 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 34 11 2
      20 Paulo Ferreira 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 23 2 0
      26 John Terry 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 33 3 1
      10 Joe Cole 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 42 3 0
      12 John Obi Mikel 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 41 10 2
      5 Michael Essien 0 4 2 1 2 0 0 38 2 0
      13 Michael Ballack 2 4 2 0 3 0 0 29 6 1
      11 Didier Drogba 0 2 1 3 2 0 1 13 2 0
      21 Salomon Kalou 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 18 3 1
      23 Carlo Cudicini 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Andriy Shevchenko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0
      4 Claude Makelele 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
      39 Nicolas Anelka 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 0
      35 Juliano Belletti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Manchester United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Edwin Van der Sar 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 3 0
      5 Rio Ferdinand 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 23 0 2
      27 Mikael Silvestre 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 14 4 4
      6 Wes Brown 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 17 4 3
      15 Nemanja Vidic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
      8 Anderson Oliveira 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 14 2 0
      24 Darren Fletcher 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 26 2 7
      16 Michael Carrick 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 28 7 4
      17 Luís Almeida da Cunha 0 2 0 5 1 1 0 16 1 2
      11 Ryan Giggs 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 7 6 0
      10 Wayne Rooney 1 1 1 0 1 3 0 10 3 0
      22 John O'Shea 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 0
      7 Cristiano Ronaldo 0 4 2 0 3 1 0 2 1 0
      4 Owen Hargreaves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 0 4
      32 Carlos Tevez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      29 Tomasz Kuszczak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+1' OFF THE LINE AGAIN!!! Darren Fletcher's header looks destined for the far corner but Andrit Shevchenko of all people denies him!
    • 89' Cleared off the line by Ashley Cole!! Ronaldo fires goalwards with his left foot but the England left-back is there to scuff it away!
    • 86' After much argument from United, Michael Ballack steps up... SCORES!!! Sends Van der Sar the wrong way and Chelsea are back in front!!
    • 84' PENALTY!!! The linesman flags for a handball by Michael Carrick as he blocks Michael Essien's cross. It's a tight call, but it goes Chelsea's way!
    • 78' Ronaldo takes the free-kick eventually, but it is a big ask to beat Cech from there and a low, scudding effort is saved by Van der Sar.
    • 72' After a protracted argument with Ballack, Drogba FIRES!!! GOOD SAVE VAN DER SAR!!
    • 71' Carvalho fires goalwards from a tight angle and his shot is deflected behind for a corner that is scrambled clear. Nani is pushed over and how is that a Chelsea free-kick? Amazing decision, and a real chance for Chelsea.
    • 56' GOAL!!! Manchester United are level out of nothing!! Carvalho loses the ball under no pressure and Rooney races through one on one. He moves to the right of Cech before smashing a low shot in off the left-hand post!!
    • 45+1' GOAL!!! Chelsea in front through Michael Ballack!!! He escapes his marker and plants his header past Van der Sar from a Drogba cross!
    • 21' Joe Cole spurns a golden opportunity to play Essien in but the rebound falls to him and he FIRES!! OFF THE WOODWORK!! The ball rattles the angle of bar and post in the top-right corner!
    • 1' Panic at the back from United!! Wes Brown puts Van der Sar in trouble with a terrible back header. Kalou wins the ball and supplies Essien, whose shot flies over. But a nervous start from the visitors.
    • - Welcome to LIVE coverage of Chelsea versus Manchester United from Stamford Bridge. It may not quite be the title-decider it has been billed as, but this game is crucially important. If United avoid defeat they will almost certainly retain their championship. If Chelsea win they go level on points at the top.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Alan Wiley

  • Chelsea

    Manager: Avram Grant

    Captain: John Terry

    On the Field

    • Cech
    • Ferreira Substitution Out (66′)
    • Terry
    • Carvalho
    • Cole
    • Essien
    • Mikel Yellow Card
    • Ballack Goal Yellow Card
    • Cole Substitution Out (88′)
    • Kalou Substitution Out (81′)
    • Drogba Yellow Card

    Subs

    • Anelka Substitution In66′
    • Cudicini
    • Makelele Substitution In88′
    • Shevchenko Substitution In81′
    • Belletti

    Injured

    None

    Suspended

    None

  • Manchester United

    Manager: Alex Ferguson

    Captain: Ryan Giggs

    On the Field

    • van der Sar Yellow Card
    • Brown Yellow Card
    • Ferdinand Yellow Card
    • Vidic Substitution Out (14′)
    • Silvestre
    • Fletcher
    • Carrick
    • Anderson Substitution Out (65′)
    • Nani
    • Giggs
    • Rooney Goal Substitution Out (63′)

    Subs

    • Hargreaves Substitution In14′ Yellow Card
    • O'Shea Substitution In65′
    • Kuszczak
    • Tevez
    • Ronaldo Substitution In63′

    Injured

    • Saha

    Suspended

    None