United defeat resolute Chelsea
Manchester United have today beaten Chelsea 2-0 at Old Trafford with the visitors finishing the game with only ten men. This was Chelsea manager Avrim Grant's first game in charge of the Londoners, but despite the defeat Chelsea played well without ever really threatening Edwin Van Der Sar's goal. The game started with many pundits predicting a victory for United due to recent departure of Jose Mourinho from Chelsea. The game started with both sides passing the ball well, but neither side managed to make a clear cut chance for themselves.
The first chance of the game came when United striker Wayne Rooney curled a lovely shot towards the Chelsea goal that looked destined for the back of the net, but Chelsea keeper Petr Cech made a magnificent save to keep the sides level. United may of been given a penalty soon after when Evra collected a ball from the defence only to be impeded by Joe Cole but the penalty wasn't given, much to the annoyance of the United players.
The turning point of the whole game came when Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel, was harshly sent off for a tackle that probably only warranted a yellow. I think the reason for the tackle was Mikel took a heavy touch and that lead to his over eagerness to get the ball back, and in doing so he fouled Evra. The ref indicated 2 minutes of stoppage time in the first half, but United scored after 47:30 when Ryan Giggs played an exquisite ball with the outside of his left foot that met the head of Tevez who headed in his first United goal.
The second half turned out to be a cagey affair with most of the play in the midfield, but Chelsea may feel aggrieved for the fact that Rooney possibly should of received his marching orders for a tackle on Cole, after already receiving a yellow. Chelsea hopes of grabbing a point from the game were ended when Louis Saha was adjudged to of been fouled by Tal Ben Haim in the box, and the Frenchman powered the ball straight into Cech's goal from the penalty spot.
I have to say I was surprised how well Chelsea played when they went down to ten men because it's never easy chasing a deficit with only ten men. Although Chelsea defending resolutely, they nothing to convince me that they will score many goals this season without their hit man Didier Drogba. Shevchenko looked decent in spells but failed to impress overall, being substituted after an hour. United performed well and Sir Alex will be delighted with the goal for Tevez because I feel he may go and do what he did when he got his first goal for West Ham last season.