Often seen as final fitness test before the start of the season, the Community Shield was anything but a friendly this year as Manchester United and Chelsea both wanted to set the tone for the Premiership's title race.
After a little scare in the fifth minute, the Red Devils completely overwhelmed Chelsea in the first twenty minutes of the game. With Park and Nani putting pressure on Ivanovic and Ashley Cole, the Blues were denied an outlet on the wings while Carrick and Fletcher took care of neutralizing Lampard in the middle. From the opening moments, it was clear that Ivanovic was no match for the Evra-Nani combo on the left wing. The Portuguese winger took advantage of this situation by scoring the first goal of the game at the 9th minute with a powerful strike to the far post.
As the half went on however, United slowly eased their foot off the pedal while Chelsea gradually took control of the game. The first warning shot came at the half-hour mark when Ashley Cole made his first effective run on the overlap and delivered a splendid cross headed over the goal by Essien. As Chelsea started to dominate, Foster became increasingly uneasy, crumbling first under Drogba's pressure (with no immediate consequences), and then being unable to properly receive a pass or to make one.
At the break, Carlo Ancelotti acted on his team only obvious weakness by replacing Ivanovic by Bosingwa. Fueled by their strong performance at the end of the first half, Chelsea started the second 45 minutes with fire in their bellies. After a surprising run upfield, Ricardo Carvalho equalized the mark with a free diving header. The bad side of Nani showed on the play as he was the one supposed to watch Carvalho. Instead the young winger let his fellow countryman walk him unmarked and deliver a crushing blow to Manchester United. Ten minutes later, Frank Lampard, who had been virtually invisible in the first half, put Chelsea in the lead by finishing a 3-on-2 counterattack. The play was the result of a uncalled foul by Michael Ballack on Patrice Evra. After the contact, United players simply stopped playing, expecting the same treatment that Chelsea had received earlier when referee Chris Foy had stopped a United attack due to Ballack writhing on the grass. As it was, United not only had Evra out of action but Berbatov was also receiving treatment on the sidelines. They effectively down to nine players but it's still not reason enough to simply stop playing.
Foy understandably allowed the goal and although it woke up Chelsea fans who had been quiet for most of the first half, it also brought forward a raging Rooney who had pretty quiet until that point. Determined to get that goal back, United flexed their collective muscle as Sir Alex Ferguson introduced hardened veterans Scholes and Giggs in midfield as well as offensive-minded Fabio in O'Shea's place. The result was a last-minute equalizer by Rooney on another brilliant pass by Giggs. The game would go on penalties.
Although the match itself was an excellent contest between the two teams, the penalty shootout was one of the worst event I've ever seen as a United fan. From Giggs shooting it straight down the middle at Cech's legs (though Giggs usually shoots to the right side and Cech had dived that way) to Evra's pathetic effort easily caught – CAUGHT! - by Cech, it was downright embarrassing. Especially when Chelsea players would just strut up and fire off a perfect shot (expect for Lampard who took the middle-of-the-net approach).
So, the Community Shield makes its way from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge. It was quite a game and it surely builds up the anticipation for the 2009-2010 season.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; John O'Shea (Fabio da Silva, 75th), Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra; Park Ji-Sung (Ryan Giggs, 76th), Darren Fletcher (Paul Scholes, 76th), Michael Carrick, Nani (Antonio Valencia, 62nd); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Michael Owen, 76th).
Chelsea line-up: Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic (Jose Bosingwa, h-t), Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel (Michael Ballack, 64th), Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda (Deco, 77th); Nicolas Anelka (Salomon Kalou, 83rd), Didier Drogba.
After a little scare in the fifth minute, the Red Devils completely overwhelmed Chelsea in the first twenty minutes of the game. With Park and Nani putting pressure on Ivanovic and Ashley Cole, the Blues were denied an outlet on the wings while Carrick and Fletcher took care of neutralizing Lampard in the middle. From the opening moments, it was clear that Ivanovic was no match for the Evra-Nani combo on the left wing. The Portuguese winger took advantage of this situation by scoring the first goal of the game at the 9th minute with a powerful strike to the far post.
As the half went on however, United slowly eased their foot off the pedal while Chelsea gradually took control of the game. The first warning shot came at the half-hour mark when Ashley Cole made his first effective run on the overlap and delivered a splendid cross headed over the goal by Essien. As Chelsea started to dominate, Foster became increasingly uneasy, crumbling first under Drogba's pressure (with no immediate consequences), and then being unable to properly receive a pass or to make one.
At the break, Carlo Ancelotti acted on his team only obvious weakness by replacing Ivanovic by Bosingwa. Fueled by their strong performance at the end of the first half, Chelsea started the second 45 minutes with fire in their bellies. After a surprising run upfield, Ricardo Carvalho equalized the mark with a free diving header. The bad side of Nani showed on the play as he was the one supposed to watch Carvalho. Instead the young winger let his fellow countryman walk him unmarked and deliver a crushing blow to Manchester United. Ten minutes later, Frank Lampard, who had been virtually invisible in the first half, put Chelsea in the lead by finishing a 3-on-2 counterattack. The play was the result of a uncalled foul by Michael Ballack on Patrice Evra. After the contact, United players simply stopped playing, expecting the same treatment that Chelsea had received earlier when referee Chris Foy had stopped a United attack due to Ballack writhing on the grass. As it was, United not only had Evra out of action but Berbatov was also receiving treatment on the sidelines. They effectively down to nine players but it's still not reason enough to simply stop playing.
Foy understandably allowed the goal and although it woke up Chelsea fans who had been quiet for most of the first half, it also brought forward a raging Rooney who had pretty quiet until that point. Determined to get that goal back, United flexed their collective muscle as Sir Alex Ferguson introduced hardened veterans Scholes and Giggs in midfield as well as offensive-minded Fabio in O'Shea's place. The result was a last-minute equalizer by Rooney on another brilliant pass by Giggs. The game would go on penalties.
Although the match itself was an excellent contest between the two teams, the penalty shootout was one of the worst event I've ever seen as a United fan. From Giggs shooting it straight down the middle at Cech's legs (though Giggs usually shoots to the right side and Cech had dived that way) to Evra's pathetic effort easily caught – CAUGHT! - by Cech, it was downright embarrassing. Especially when Chelsea players would just strut up and fire off a perfect shot (expect for Lampard who took the middle-of-the-net approach).
So, the Community Shield makes its way from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge. It was quite a game and it surely builds up the anticipation for the 2009-2010 season.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; John O'Shea (Fabio da Silva, 75th), Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Patrice Evra; Park Ji-Sung (Ryan Giggs, 76th), Darren Fletcher (Paul Scholes, 76th), Michael Carrick, Nani (Antonio Valencia, 62nd); Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov (Michael Owen, 76th).
Chelsea line-up: Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic (Jose Bosingwa, h-t), Ricardo Carvalho, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel (Michael Ballack, 64th), Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda (Deco, 77th); Nicolas Anelka (Salomon Kalou, 83rd), Didier Drogba.
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