After playing second fiddle to Chelsea for the first ten minutes of the first half at Old Trafford, Manchester United almost drew first blood in the 13th minute when Wayne Rooney found himself in space on the right wing for the home side. The
ex-Everton striker went past Ashley Cole before finding Javier Hernandez with a beautifully disguised pass. The Mexican striker had the vision to spot Ryan Giggs’ run on the far post but the Welshman’s eventual finish was just inches wide off the mark as the
score line remained at 0-0.
In the 14th minute, Chelsea struck back at Manchester United with a counter attack move. The Blues were ushered onwards by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707 inside
the Manchester United penalty area. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Anelka-c27786. However, the Frenchman
was extremely wide with his first time shot as United breathed a sigh of relief.
In the 15th minute, the visiting side had their best goal scoring chance of the match as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097 found himself in space inside the Manchester United penalty area. The Chelsea playmaker was played in by Florent Malouda who skipped past John
O’Shea down the left hand side but Lampard’s final finish was weak and aimed straight at Edwin Van Der Sar who caught the ball with ease.
In the 19th minute, John O’Shea became the first Manchester United to get booked in the match after he brought down http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Florent-Malouda-c13838. The French winger was rushing away from the Irishman with the ball at his feet when O’Shea tackled him with the
ball nowhere near him.
In the 27th minute, Manchester United had the ball in the back of the net but Javier Hernandez’s goal was ruled offside. It was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Rooney-c36736 who played in the Mexican starlet with a deep cross but the replays showed that the young striker was
offside by a few inches as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 executed their offside trap to perfection.
In the 31st minute, Manchester United was caught out at the back due to Nemanja Vidic’s error of judgment. The Serbian center back let the ball run away from him to Nicolas Anelka who pounced on the loose ball just outside the home side’s penalty
area. However, Van Der Sar made a bold decision to rush out of his penalty area to successfully tackle the French striker who was clean through on goal.
In the 32nd minute, Chelsea struggled to keep up with Manchester United’s rampant counter attack as Luis http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523, covering for Ivanovic, brought the Portuguese winger
down to the ground with a cynical challenge and as a result he was shown a yellow card by the referee. Ryan Giggs stepped up to take the free kick but his delivery was cleared away by Chelsea as the visitors’ regained possession of the ball.
In the 37th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Terry-c18895 was left in his tracks by Javier Hernandez but Manchester United’s striker was hacked down by Malouda who also went into the referee’s book for his professional foul on the Mexican youngster.
In the 41st minute, John Terry joined Florent Malouda and Ramires in the referee’s book for his elbow on Hernandez just as the striker was about to head the ball.
In the 44th minute just before the half time whistle at Old Trafford, Manchester United opened the scoring on their home turf. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ryan-Giggs-c31985. The Welsh man played a one-two pass with John O’Shea
before playing a powerfully hit low cross towards Javier Hernandez. The Mexican striker who was in the thick of the action throughout the first half made no mistake with his tap in as the score line went to United’s favour, 1-0.
Consequently, the first half of the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal between Manchester United and Chelsea came to an end with United in the lead. After starting the match in a shaky manner, the home side consolidated during the latter
stages of the first half and found the back of the net with Javier Hernandez’s finish from Ryan Giggs’ cross.
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