Chelsea versus Manchester United – postponed
Chelsea and Manchester United looked to lock horns this weekend in a clash of the titans. In recent seasons, since 2005, Chelsea and United have been the perennial front runners in the premier league, with Arsenal and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 sometimes providing a meek
challenge that couldn’t be sustained.
But this Sunday at Stamford Bridge the two were to showdown. United are going into the now cancelled match as league leaders, leading Chelsea by three points and a game in hand. Therefore it was imperative for Chelsea to win this game and narrow the gap
at the top. United on the other hand were looking to cement their position at the top, and a win at the Bridge would certainly have gone a long way in doing that.
Chelsea were on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw with Tottenham at White Hart Lane last weekend. But there were some encouraging signs for them; they at least looked like they had started to play like the Chelsea of old. And at the back they were only
undone by a touch of genius by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roman-Pavlyuchenko-c31639, where he moved Terry and Ivanovic to his tune to open up shooting space, and the finish was perfect.
Chelsea did respond with a goal of their own, but in highly fortuitous fashion. Drogba held off the challenge of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Dawson-c25288 as he turned to a long ball and lashed at it. The shoot, though itself very powerful, was straight at Gomes and he should’ve easily
parried it away to safety. Instead he slapped the ball only to see it lob over his own head and into the net. It was a goal out of nothing, but Chelsea didn’t mind. In extra time Chelsea even had a penalty awarded to them when Gomes clattered into http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523
in the box. Drogba stepped up and saw his penalty saved by Gomes. It was a kick in the teeth for Ancelloti who should’ve gotten the three points.
United were on the back of a morale boosting victory over old foes Arsenal, and were probably in the best of mindsets to face http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786. But the adverse weather conditions have certainly spoiled the plan for United, because now their fixture list will be overloaded,
with two postponed games to play. One from a few weeks ago against Blackpool which was also called off for the same reason and now this encounter against Chelsea.
The adverse weather conditions have been affecting matches all over the United Kingdom and they came as a great hindrance in the grand scheme of things. It is something neither Carlo Ancelloti nor Sir Alex Ferguson wanted, for surely they wanted to go head-to-head,
prove their superiority and get this heart stopping fixture out of the way. They would’ve preferred to see the backside of it sooner rather than later, but now it is out of their hands. They’ll have to play this game somewhere in the future as a midweek game.
And who knows, maybe by then Chelsea and United are on an equal footing, with a similar points tally and regained form and confidence. That will certainly p**s Sir Alex off.
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