Prior to last night's 1st leg Champions League quarter final with Chelsea, Sir Alex Ferguson bemoaned that, in his opinion, United had been on the wrong end of rough justice when visiting Stamford Bridge for the last seven seasons. Ferguson doesn't easily forget perceived injustices against his team and only Chelsea fans would argue that David Luiz shouldn't have been sent-off when the two sides met in March in the Premier League; the Brazilian went on to equalise and Chelsea won that match. At Old Trafford last season Didier Drogba scored the winning goal from what was a clear off-side position. The list goes on...
While Chelsea have undoubtedly had the rub of the green where the big decisions are concerned against United in recent seasons, much of the talk ahead of last night's tie centred on Chelsea avenging the 2008 Champions League final defeat, but going into this fixture the feeling among United fans was that it was about time Chelsea were put in their place, because sooner or later their luck had to run out.
Thankfully, justice was done thanks to a wonderful Wayne Rooney goal in the 25th minute. Veteran Ryan Giggs made the goal when he collected a superb raking cross-field pass from the right boot of Michael Carrick. Giggs brought down the ball magnificently and pushed it beyond Bosingwa and then pulled it back for Rooney who passed into the net.
Rooney has been grabbing the headlines for the wrong reasons and we await the outcome of his appeal following the FAs decision to ban him for two games for his antics against West Ham last weekend. But against Chelsea, Rooney was quite superb. The United striker was hacked down twice and on both occasions the perpetrators got away with it. Whether or not the Chelsea players were trying to get Rooney sent-off is a good question to ask. Whatever the plan was, it did not work, as Rooney kept his composure as did the rest of his team-mates, despite the fact that on too many occasions Chelsea players left a foot-in when the ball had been played.
Equally as bad was the sickening antics of Torres and Drogba; the Chelsea strikers persistent attempts to con the referee bordered on embarrassing. Drogba is a giant of man, yet all too often he acts like a big schoolgirl when feigning injury at every opportunity. As for Torres, the former Liverpool striker should have been booked for his diving inside the penalty area. If there was a trophy for playing-acting in football, Drogba and Torres would have a sideboard full of Oscars between them.
Chelsea had a good shout for a late penalty turned down when Evra brought down Ramires - but it was their turn to be on the wrong end of rough justice.
United just about deserved to win but the tie is definitely not over and anything could happen in the second-leg next week. Realistically, neither of these two teams are good enough to overcome Barcelona should they reach the final, but for this Red at least anyway, knocking out Chelsea will be very satisfying indeed.
what a one sided rubbish article.
ReplyDeleteYou comment on how Torres should have been booked for diving in more detail, then the definate penalty on ramires.
i like your passion for your club - but why so obviously one sided?
This is a United blog... and btw, there's no a in definite.
ReplyDeleteChelsea tried to cheat their way into the semi-final, but for once we had a decent referee...
ReplyDeleteYou're a joke.
ReplyDeleteRamires = Penalty.
Correct result, 1-1.
I hope Chelsea wallop United at Old Trafford, i say this because at least when Chelsea win they have the good grace to not sit and whine about the team they just beat. Get a life, there is such a thing as a graceful winner aswell you know.
If you can not see the flaws in your own team then you are in no position to point the finger at any one else.
(SPURS fan, rooting for Chelsea for the first and 99% likely ONLY time in my life.)
(spurs fan again)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you corrected the Chelsea fans spelling of the word definite (definate as he wrote it) yet YOU wrote:
"Chelsea had a good shout for a late penalty turned down when Evara brought down Ramires"
Who exactly is Evara?
Is he related to Patrice Evra?
Yes, not only a typo but on one of your best players names, i applaud your stupidity and inherent lack of intelligence.
Another reason to favour Chelsea over United is this, Didier Drogba got suspended for saying "It's a f***ing disgrace." No one at Chelsea attempted to defend him, even though he was right because Ovrebo showed the worst application of the rules that most football fans have seen.
Now, let's exam Wayne Rooney "F***ing hell." The same offence, with a similar suspension, the difference being Rio Ferdinand jumps onto Twitter and is all over the media claiming that if Rooney is punished then it's unjust and that Rooney is being singled out! Laughable at best.
Manchester United, a true class act....for those with absolutely zero sense of morality and justice.
Seems pretty fair to me. There were a regular stream of bookable Chelsea challenges throughout the game which hinted at something more negative than simply tough, competitive challenges and were clearly intentional. I thought the referee was fairly lenient early doors on those and only started bringing out the yellows when he had to - 4 for Chelsea and 2 for United tells the story (and bear in mind one of United's was the harsh one for Van der Sar that was for timewasting and not a poor tackle).
ReplyDeleteTorres - how much more detail would be needed other than pointing out that he WAS eventually booked for the last pathetic attempt to cheat the referee at the death - maybe Torres was hoping for the ref to balance up the stone-cold penalty that wasn't given - I would argue that shows a strong ref rather than one that lacked "courage", as Ancelotti is implying in post-match comments.
The reference to Chelsea's "penalty" being on the "wrong end of rough justice" surely makes it clear that JR accepts that it was a fair penalty claim that they were denied?
Yes, it was a fair shout for a penalty. I notice no one is defending, the antics of Drogba and Torres!
ReplyDelete...I will respond to any additional numpty comments later...
ReplyDeleteTorres WAS booked for his diving
ReplyDeleteI felt the game was fairly even. As for the Ramires penalty claims, Chelsea were unlucky but lets face it they have had more than their fair share of luck against us this season. I saw pics on Twitter showing that the foul had started outside of the box so it could have even just been a free kick if they had got the decision.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that they brought Drogba off instead of Torres. If either of them was gonna score it would have been Drogba.
Still good result for United and with Chelsea having to come at us at OT we could have a very good 2nd leg.
I agree Dave. Chelsea had it coming to them. Hopefully we will drub them at OT.
ReplyDelete