Monday, May 9, 2011

351. THE THRILLING DECIDER AND THE WINNER…IS MAN U, OF COURSE

Half time: 2-0 Full time: 2-1

It was not supposed to come this far for Man U to clinch the title but as usual football is such an intriguing and passionate game, the suspense had to creep in and dragged the championship to be decided by this crunching match with Chelsea, the defending champion.

I looked forward to watch this decider especially after last week's defeat by Arsenal left Man United with only three-point advantage over Chelsea.

The starting eleven on both side threw some surprises with Park Ji Sung being preferred to Nani and Kalou's inclusion kept Torres on the bench.

Wow, what a dream start. A wonder first goal on 36th second by Hernandez from a Park Ji Sung pass was pure magic. Man U was one up against Chelsea even before I finished my first cup of warm water.

Sir Alex Ferguson must have drilled hard into the players heads for them to come out roaring like tigers.

A Wayne Rooney's strike on the 7th minute was just excellent but was deflected by Cech. That would have been a wonderful second goal. Alas, it was not meant to be.

It was all Man U stamping its authority on the field with Chelsea still to find its footing.

Frustration must have crept in by then for Ivanovic to launch a reckless tackle on Rooney on the 12th minute earning him a yellow card. Man United was just pure brilliant.

Rooney shot again on the 14th minute but just missed the left post.

Chelsea hit back on the 19th minute with a shot by Kalou but was deflected by the alert Van Der Sar.

Park on target crashing a powerful shot on 22nd minute but was blocked by Cech. It could have easily been three goals if not for the superb performance by Peter Cech as the Chelsea custodian.

Giggs then made a sublimed cross into the goal area which was met perfectly by a header from Vidic resulting in the marvelous 2nd goal.

The scene in the stadium was sheer ecstasy.

Despite Man U dominance, Chelsea managed to spring a few sporadic attacks including a header by Kalou which was tipped over by Van der Sar on the 25th minute.

The first half definitely belonged to Man United with Giggs, a towering figure in the centre of the field.

The second half started with three changes. Chelsea brought in Ramirez for Obi Michel and Alex coming in for Luiz. Evans replaced John O’Shea on the Man U side.

The introduction of Alex and Ramirez definitely brought some urgency for Chelsea. The game seemed to tilt in favour of Chelsea with more possession, penetration and purpose.

Van Der Sar was excellent as usual shutting out many attempts by Chelsea.

Torres was introduced on the 61st min replacing Kalou to add more bite upfront but he was rather ineffective.

The game was stretched at times with Ramires taking charge in midfield while Man U dilly dallying in the middle of park.

Minute 65 saw a miscue from Alex but Hernandez failed to capitalize.

Frank Lampard put life back for Chelsea with a fortunate goal on the 68th minute.

The temperature immediately went up a few notch with Man U in sixes.

Ryan Giggs, the ever reliable workhorse rallied back to take control in midfield and allowed Man U to preserve the score till the last minute.

Vidic, Ferdinand and Van der Sar marshalled the Man U defense solidly at the back.

As Howard Webb blew the final whistle on the 94th minute even Sir Bobby Charton was seen clapping elated by the win.

Sir Alex Ferguson too a bow acknowledging the crowd's support knowing that another point next week against Blackburn would bring the EPL championship back to Old Trafford for the record 19th time.

Full time statistics indicated that Man U was the better team of the day.

As Man U players trooped out smiling and hugging each other, Man U crowd rejoicing, a Chelsea fan was seen nail-biting mourning the comprehensive loss...

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