Chelsea made the headlines even before the
match began, courtesy their unusual line-ups. While watching the match with a
friend, we hear the following revelation; “I think Mourinho is trying to pull
off a Ferguson move!” And in the pre-match analysis, it definitely seemed like
that. It appeared, though, that the analysis was incorrect and De Bruyne was in
fact playing on the right wing while André Schürrle was sent on strike and
Hazard brought back to his usual left wing.
In the initial moments the game seemed to lack the usual tempo that most Chelsea vs. Manchester United games have. It certainly seemed tame as compared to last season’s controversy filled matches.
A clash between De Bruyne and Van Persie (with De Bruyne receiving a yellow) left the former with a bleeding lip, but fortunately it wasn’t too serious.
Rooney playing strike did seem to affect the team’s game. They chose to play safe and attempted to find Rooney and Van Persie as often as they could. Although Moyes decided to forego the traditional formations for one with three strikers, Welbeck was reduced to more of a supporting character on the pitch.
Chelsea fans were quite disappointed that Rooney had not been added to their myriad of skilful players but amidst loud cheers (the likes of “See you at Chelsea, Rooney!” and “See at home next time as well!”) the MUFC midfielder seemed to flourish although he could not produce any goals.
The second half seemed
the same; United still controlled the game in terms of possession, both defences
remained rock-solid and both keepers were relatively relaxed. Chelsea decided
to change that when Cahill fired a bullet from far outside the goal and was stopped
by a brilliant save by De Gea. Schürrle chose to follow up with another shot at
goal that was denied only by the crossbar although he was correctly called
offside immediately.
In the initial moments the game seemed to lack the usual tempo that most Chelsea vs. Manchester United games have. It certainly seemed tame as compared to last season’s controversy filled matches.
A clash between De Bruyne and Van Persie (with De Bruyne receiving a yellow) left the former with a bleeding lip, but fortunately it wasn’t too serious.
Rooney playing strike did seem to affect the team’s game. They chose to play safe and attempted to find Rooney and Van Persie as often as they could. Although Moyes decided to forego the traditional formations for one with three strikers, Welbeck was reduced to more of a supporting character on the pitch.
Chelsea fans were quite disappointed that Rooney had not been added to their myriad of skilful players but amidst loud cheers (the likes of “See you at Chelsea, Rooney!” and “See at home next time as well!”) the MUFC midfielder seemed to flourish although he could not produce any goals.
The second half seemed
the same; United still controlled the game in terms of possession, both defences
remained rock-solid and both keepers were relatively relaxed. Chelsea decided
to change that when Cahill fired a bullet from far outside the goal and was stopped
by a brilliant save by De Gea. Schürrle chose to follow up with another shot at
goal that was denied only by the crossbar although he was correctly called
offside immediately.
United fought back with
newfound energy, Rooney being the star in most of the plays. A substitution
brought Ashley Young into the game for Antonio Valencia and Fernando Torres for
Kevin De Bruyne for the Reds and Blues respectively.
More prominent was Ashley
Cole’s hilarious dive. He was quite lucky not to get booked for that atrocious
dive.
Giggs came on to replace
Welbeck, whose numerous mistakes left United decidedly worse up front.
The game stagnated into
an expected draw, but not before Van Persie attempted to make his mark with a
sharp scissor kick that was blocked by Cole. Moyes and Mourinho were left to share the spoils. Let us hope the second leg of this
match will produce more interesting results.
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