EPL Week 22: Chelsea & Manchester United Grab Late Wins; United Top Premiership Table
January 19th 2009 04:51
Manchester United – Bolton Wanderers: 1-0
It's funny how after thoroughly dominating Chelsea last week, the Red Devils could only manage to squeeze painful wins to get in first place. In midweek, they scored early against Wigan and turned to defense-mode for the rest of the game, and on Saturday, the lone goal of the match came at the 89th minute via Dimitar Berbatov (video replay below).In that match, United seemed particularly flat to me. Throughout the game, their passes weren't connecting, and they really didn't seem to force themselves to play better. It took the entrance of veterans Scholes and Giggs to give a bit more life to the midfield. And it was Giggs who engineered the play that led to the goal by making a pass to Tevez who then crossed the ball to Berbatov. United then spent two of three minutes of extra-time passing the ball in their own half of the pitch. It wasn't pleasant to watch but it got the job done as they await Liverpool's confrontation against Everton to see if the Reds will reclaim the top spot.
Manchester United's line-up: Edwin Van der Sar; Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Jonny Evans, John O'Shea; Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Carrick, Anderson (Paul Scholes, 68th), Darren Fletcher (Ryan Giggs, 68th); Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov.
Chelsea – Stoke City: 2-1
When Scolari replaced Bosingwa by Belletti for the second consecutive game, I was wondering if the Brazilian manager had lost his mind. Then, Belletti made me eat my words by scoring the tying goal at the 87th minute. Here is a video of the goal below...It was a frantic game between Chelsea and cellar-dwellers Stoke City. Although Chelsea looked more alive this time around – the speed on the wings provided by Malouda and Kalou probably helped in that aspect; say what you will about Deco but he's certainly not recognized for his pace – but it was Stoke who scored first right at the hour-mark in a nicely handled counterattack. Then, in the usual we're-weaker-than-them-so-may be-we-should-wait-and-let-the m-come-at-us tactic, they decided to concentrate fully on the defense, surrendering all the possession. For a while, I actually belived that Stoke could do it. They were focused, energized after their goal, and the players were selflessly throwing their bodies in front of Chelsea's shots (I must admire anyone willing to step in front of a shot by Lampard or Ballack – those are frightening rockets). Ironically, Chelsea spent the final half-hour bombarding Sorensen's net with shots – close-range and long distance alike - but it was Belletti's head that found the opening at the 87th minute. Then in the final minute of extra-time, Lampard probably saved his manager's job by firing a superb strike past Sorensen. The two defenders who threw themselves at the shot were a fraction of a second too late to prevent the English midfielder from giving a victory to his team.
Was it a robbery? You could say yes because Chelsea's two goals came at the dying minutes of the game, but at the same time I would've been shocked if the Blues hadn't won the game. They dominated from beginning to end, for once showing passion into their play, so they fully deserved the win. As for Stoke, it's certainly a heartbreaker but they should know that if you're winning 1-0 at the end of a game, you should try your best to keep the ball at the opposite team's corner to waste time. Staying in your territory to clear the ball every time, only gives the other team more chances to come at you. Ask any team that played against Liverpool this year, and they'll tell you that it's not the way to go.
Chelsea's line-up: Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa (Juliano Belletti, 77th), Alex, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole; Michael Ballack, John Obi Mikel (Miroslav Stoch, 82nd), Frank Lampard; Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda.
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