Ten-man Chelsea fall to United
Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea future is in serious doubt after his side crashed out of the Champions League at Manchester United, leaving Roman Abramovich with the taste of European failure on his lips for another season.
As Sir Alex Ferguson has noted, Abramovich is obsessed by winning this competition but with the Russian looking on from the directors’ box, United emerged triumphant, Javier Hernandez and Park Ji-Sung finding the net either side of half-time.
Ancelotti insisted he is under no pressure to play Fernando Torres before the game, but the misfiring Spaniard began Wednesday’s match, before being replaced at half-time by Didier Drogba after another ineffective performance.
Torres has now failed to score in 11 Chelsea games, but Drogba continues to look a threat and briefly threatened to derail United after grabbing an equaliser shortly after Ramires was sent off.
It was a false dawn, however, and Chelsea are staring down the barrel of a trophyless season, with Ancelotti likely to be in the firing line if Abramovich decides to pull the trigger.
No-one could accuse the Italian of shirking the big decision and it was true that Chelsea’s first-half performance was vastly superior to their efforts at Stamford Bridge six days ago.
Torres glanced an early header wide after climbing above Rio Ferdinand, who was hampered by an injury that did not prove serious enough to force him off.
Nicolas Anelka was narrowly wide with a half-volley that came about as a direct result of a Torres mis-hit and when the Frenchman intercepted a poor clearance by Nemanja Vidic, it looked like he would get a clear sight of goal until Edwin van der Sar robbed him with a perfectly executed slide tackle.
With Ramires the driving force in midfield, it seemed only a matter of time before Chelsea were back on level terms and they certainly should have been when Florent Malouda raced into the box, then teed up Frank Lampard with a perfectly weighted square ball. But the midfielder’s finish was not good enough and he was unable to beat Van der Sar.
But with Vidic and Ferdinand standing firm, United survived, allowing Wayne Rooney to cause mayhem at the other end. Operating in a deep role just behind Hernandez, Rooney -more than anyone – dictated the pace of the Red Devils’ play.
It was the England striker, who will be suspended on Saturday when United tackle City in a Manchester derby FA Cup semi-final, who fizzed over the cross from which Hernandez thought he had put the hosts in front, only to be flagged offside.
The call was tight, equally as debatable as the one that followed in the final minute of the half as United took the lead. Much has been made of how good this present Ferguson team actually is and so often it is derided for lacking stardust.
But they certainly gain from Giggs’ vast experience and when Nani’s free-kick ended up being shunted back to the right flank from which it had been delivered, John O’Shea set his 37-year-old team-mate scampering into the box with an inspired reverse pass.
He took his time, looked up and delivered the ball low to the far post, where Hernandez arrived at exactly the right moment to slide it into the roof of the Chelsea net.
At half-time, Ancelotti withdrew his shot-shy striker and introdued Drogba. The Ivorian almost levelled within a minute of the restart, just failing to find the target with a near-post flick.
A man on a mission, Drogba then whipped round Ferdinand and lashed a low 20-yard drive narrowly wide. And, after Ramires had been handed a second booking for a needless foul on Nani, it was Drogba who refused to let Chelsea surrender, drilling through Van der Sar’s legs to breathe new hope into the visitors’ challenge.
Unfortunately for the striker, as quickly as it arrived, it was snuffed out as Giggs chipped a glorious pass to Park, who fired gleefully into the bottom corner to send United into the last four, where they will almost certainly meet German challengers Schalke.
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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