Chelsea 1 Man Utd 0 at Stamford Bridge.
Not exactly classy football but Man Utd was the team with better ideas and creativity. It also unfortunately had more loose cannons, specifically, Jonny Evans.
In fact, Evans provided a menace that the Chelsea attack had a hard time mustering. Would he get a red card, cough up a penalty? As Drogba clattered to the ground his legs flailing, there was a look of dread in Evans eyes. Luckily for him, Martin Atkinson never saw his high charge with studs to Drogba's chest. Instead, he went for the yellow card for Drogba adding to the sense of wrongdoing as the Ivoirian lay horizontal in obvious pain.
It turned out Atkinson was choreographing something more significant as minutes later he called foul on Darren Fletcher upending Ashley Cole while they scrapped for the ball. The Scotsman protested that it was a legitimate tackle. A make up call? The set piece taken by Deco skimmed over a host of players with Terry's head ever so slightly making contact. An upright Drogba pulls down Wes Brown that instant and the ball sails into the net unimpeded. Drogba had again influenced play with his consequential trickery. Chelsea went ahead against the run of play.
It did not end there. Carvalho was called for a late tackle against Rooney which did not go down well with Evans who shoved aside the Chelsea defender. Atkinson intervening with two yellow cards.
A lot of drama after the first half's two highlights. An fingertip save by Van Der Saar turning away Anelka's shot and John Terry writhing in pain after his goolies said hello to Ashley Cole.
Man Utd let one get away. Wayne Rooney continues to get better and better. But it was the team that has trademarked winning ugly, again coming through.
The upshot is that Arsenal retain their second place in the league as Chelsea climb five points clear, setting up a very crucial 29th November clash at the Emirates.
sincerely, how can any thing positive be said about evan's kick into drogba's chest? are these commenters impartial supporters of football or blind fans of a particular team? that was very dangerous, period!!1
Was it
http://www.4thegame.com/club/chelsea-fc/news/250241/Chest+injury+sidelines+Drogba.html
"Drogba has a problem because he's struggling to move, but I hope he'll be better in the next few days,"
Not sure if you've ever been kicked in chest by a professional footballer Andrew, or even just broken a rib, but I'll clue you in. It hurts like fucking hell.
There wasn't anything "unfair" about the win either. Man U played dirty and so did Chelsea, they just happened to get a goal out of it.
But if "fair" playing is whining at ref after EVERY decision, crying in your press conferences and in tabloids, than I'd rather Chelsea didn't play "fair."
Andrew
Yes, it was an acting job by Drogba but Evans charge was dangerous and he should have been booked for it. And Atkinson missed out on the Wes Brown pull down too. So Ferguson has legitimate grounds to grouse but he's cried wolf so many times, I think the refs have started tuning him out. Man Utd looked far more dangerous but against an experienced team like Chelsea, all you need is a slip up.
Drogba's reaction to Evans' challenge was one of the most over the top things I've seen from him, and that is saying a lot. A boot the the chest hurts, sure, but it doesn't make you go into seizures on the floor and take three to five minutes to stand up, especially when you're in the kind of shape Drogba is in. It became obvious how much he faked it after he found the energy to stop limping off the field and shout at Van Der Sar and the referee for his yellow card. And, infamously, he had the strength to pull down Wes Brown by his shirt.
Chelsea were always going to win that game, it's just a shame they couldn't win it fairly. I think referees have really started to punish United for Ferguson's comments about them, specifically after the Wiley controversy.