Manchester United FC- The Fans Blog: August 2009

Community Shield : United 2 - 2 Chelsea

Goalkeeper Petr Cech was the Chelsea hero as Carlo Ancelotti's side beat Manchester United 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out to win the Community Shield after a 2-2 draw at Wembley.

The match finished level at full-time thanks to Wayne Rooney's late leveller, but Chelsea's second goal had sparked controversy.

Chelsea substitute Michael Ballack appeared to elbow Patrice Evra, but while the French left-back lay hurt on the ground referee Chris Foy allowed play to continue.

Chelsea's Didier Drogba broke clear of the United defence before slipping the ball to Frank Lampard to fire the Blues ahead.

Evra then had to be kept apart from Ballack and was booked for a cynical foul on the Germany captain in the 80th minute.

But with Chelsea heading for victory, Rooney broke clear to level the scores in the final minute and take the game to penalties.

Cech then saved from substitute Ryan Giggs and the luckless Evra, to earn Chelsea a 4-1 victory on spot-kicks.

In contrast to the ill-feeling in the later stages of the contest, the afternoon had begun in a more fitting fashion with one minute's applause for the late Sir Bobby Robson.

When the action began on the pitch, United goalkeeper Ben Foster was tested within the opening two minutes.

Drogba collected a pass from Lampard and fired a 20-yard shot towards goal but Foster, selected in the England squad for Wednesday's friendly against Holland, saved at the second attempt.

It was a bright start by Chelsea who almost went ahead in the fifth minute.

Lampard's corner was met by right-back Branislav Ivanovic whose effort was headed against the bar by Evra.

United took the lead with their first real attack of the game in the 10th minute.

Darren Fletcher's sublime cross-field pass was collected by Nani and the Portugal winger beat Ivanovic and Michael Essien before sending a 25-yard drive beyond Cech and into the far right corner.

United should have made it 2-0 in the 16th minute when Dimitar Berbatov crossed for Rooney to head the ball back to Park Ji-Sung on the edge of the six-yard box.

Park was thwarted by a great save from Cech, and the Chelsea goalkeeper then pulled off another fine save moments later when the South Korean midfielder set Berbatov through on goal.

Chelsea were beginning to exert some control as the interval approached but they failed to find a cutting edge.

That lack of precision was underlined again five minutes before the break when Nicolas Anelka sent a drive just wide of Foster's left-hand post.

A cross from Ivanovic moments later failed to trouble Foster even through Drogba lurked with intent.

Three minutes before the break Cech had to be at his best again to tip a 20-yard shot from Fletcher over the bar.

Chelsea replaced the struggling Ivanovic with Jose Bosingwa at the start of the second half, and equalised in the 52nd minute through Ricardo Carvalho's diving header.

Lampard and Florent Malouda had combined on the left and when the winger sent over a volleyed cross, Drogba and Foster collided as they went for the ball.

Foster's attempted clearance fell straight to Carvalho who dived to head the Blues level from eight yards.

Chelsea were full of confidence and Anelka soon tested Foster with a powerful 20-yard drive that the United goalkeeper did well to push away to safety.

In the 59th minute Drogba was inches away from meeting a cross from Ashley Cole as Ancelotti's side continued to control the game.

United were rocked by an injury to goalscorer Nani on the hour. The winger hurt his shoulder in a clash with John Terry and was replaced by Antonio Valencia.

Three minutes later Chelsea replaced John Mikel Obi with Germany captain Ballack.

The London outfit took the lead in controversial circumstances in the 70th minute after Ballack appeared to elbow Evra.

While the United player was down Chelsea broke away and Drogba's pass to Lampard allowed the England midfielder space to beat Foster with a crisp drive. The ball struck the inside of the left post and bounced over the line before spinning back out, however it was clearly a legitimate goal.

With seconds remaining Rooney broke clear of the Chelsea defence and slipped the ball beyond Cech for a dramatic equaliser, but United were not so clinical in the shoot-out.

After the match Sir Alex Ferguson criticised referee Chris Foy and claimed Michael Ballack should have been sent off.

"I think the referee has made a rod for his own back," said the United boss. "He stopped the game twice, first when Nani was down, then on the second occasion Ballack has gone down, which we have seen before with him."I asked the referee, he said he thought it was a serious incident, and he thought the player needed treatment, whereas he [Ballack] was up right away."Once he has done that, I do not understand why he has not stopped the game when Evra is lying down?"

With a replay you can see Ballack has elbowed the boy, and if the referee had seen it properly, it is a red card."The referee is in line with it, and should have at least stopped the game, but he did not."Of course, then they went on and scored the second goal.

It is hard to blame the Chelsea players, because it is a professional game."But it is making it very difficult for referees [to know] when players are acting to get the game stopped."It is an area I am concerned about and we have got to find a solution to that part."Ferguson continued: "If we are putting the responsibility back on the referees and they are deciding when the games should be stopped, then fine."He has got to be correct in that respect. As we saw today, he never got it quite right. You have to be consistent."

Portugal midfielder Nani impressed, but Ferguson revealed he could now be set for a spell on the sidelines."We could not put the shoulder back in, so that is the worrying part for us," said Ferguson, who has had to reshape his attack following the summer departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez."He had done very well, and we are very pleased with his performance." United goalkeeper Foster, 26, was standing in for injured Edwin van der Sar, but did not enjoy the best of afternoons and let Lampard's shot through his gloves for Chelsea's second goal.Ferguson, though, has every confidence in the England stopper, who is likely to face Holland in next week's friendly." Knowing Ben and the ability which he has, he should have done better with the second goal," said the United boss.

"However, it was his first big challenge."He has waited a long time, has had his injuries, and in pre-season I spread the load between the three 'keepers, and maybe we did not have enough minutes for him."But the important thing is, knowing his ability, it means I do not have any worries about him."

Ferguson felt United should have put the game beyond Chelsea following their dominant first half, with defender Ricardo Carvalho eventually pulling the FA Cup winners back in it on 52 minutes."We should really have put the game to bed," he said.

"The equaliser really knocked us back, and at that point Chelsea were the better team."The second goal was the deciding factor."Ferguson added: "We should have been three or four goals up. When you get chances in big matches and do not take them, you can suffer and we did today." For new Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti, it was a first piece of silverware in English football.The Italian coach made several tactical changes during the second half, which paid off.

"We found it difficult, but we were better in the second half when we put more strength on the pitch. In the end, we deserved to win," Ancelotti said. "It was an important start to the season and now we have to continue to work and improve."I like the mental attitude of the players and the organisation of the club."We are now ready to start a very important season and want to do the best." This result is important because it proves our possibilities.

"On the controversy in the build-up to the second goal, the Chelsea manager said: "The referee can stop the play and also the players can put the ball out."However, for sure they did not see Evra down on the pitch, because a Chelsea player would put the ball out if they saw an opponent down."

taken from : ESPN Soccernet

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