Chelsea pull the rug out from under United

                A game of 2 halves is what I would call the QF match between United and Chelsea. But before we delve into what happened, let us take a step back and look at any misgivings from the team sheet. Of course there were none, Wazza started the game along with Nani to redeem himself (if he was feeling guilty for the Real debacle). Evans, Kagawa and Chicarito returning to the fold as well thereby benching Vidic, Welbeck and RVP. The teams were evenly poised and the matches between these 2 are always hotly contested if their recent meetings were an indicator.

               It was all cagey with the initial few minutes, get your touches, push the ball around before United drawing first blood on an unsuspecting blue’s defence. From the telecast I could see Nani signalling Carrick to pass crossfield to the right and Carrick lofting the ball angled towards the goal. It took a moment to appreciate his brilliant picking of a run from Chicarito who sent a looping header far beyond Cech’s reach – 5 minutes. The chant of “It’s hard to believe it is not Scholes” was not a flattery perhaps for this deserving and unassuming midfielder.

              United were content with moving the ball across and keeping possession before Nani was tripped by Moses leading to a free kick. It was Rooney’s to pose a threat to Cech’s D and the delivery he sent with a dip towards the end found its way undisturbed into the far corner, thanks to poor marking and non-existent communication within the Blue’s defence. 2-0 up in 11 minutes is more than you can ask for against Chelsea. Another 10 minutes and it could have been 3-0 had it not been for the Czech custodian with quick reflexes denying Rooney his brace and saving Luiz blushes. In the first half, Lampard’s tame effort was the closest they came to score and that was straight to De Gea to remind him he was indeed in the game.

             United were menacing in the attack, balanced in the middle and composed in the defence with Rio Ferdinand giving the English manager watching from the stands second thoughts if it was indeed right to drop the defender from the national setup.

             The low points in the otherwise good first half were Nani pulling his hamstring (Valencia coming on for last few seconds) and Cleverley’s inept display at the midfield. He was consistently finding a blue shirt with his passes and had his memory on positional play temporarily plugged out. As I said, a game of 2 halves, from a United’s perspective we have seen the best and could have gone all the way knocking Roman’s door to remind him of his decision to fire the manager..oops. interim.

           When the second half kicked in, it was the same 11 on the pitch for both the teams but the body language was different from the outset for the blues. An attacking intent was palpably visible and who better than Mata to demonstrate it. United had to be content with stifling the advances in the final third. At 52’Rafa made 2 substitutions – Hazard for Moses and Obi Mikel for Lamps. With Hazard, Oscar and Mata against you, there is no room for complacency with a 2 goal lead that exactly was what we witnessed.

           Hazard, that he is to the defenders, nimble footed and a quick thinker, initiated the proceedings with choking Rafael from his forward bombardment and cutting in to the middle to interplay with Mata and Oscar. It took just 7 minutes from his introduction to the first goal for Chelsea how appropriately scored by Hazard with a curling effort. The travelling blue fans were in for a treat and the united should have been on their toes.

           Fergie, to keep a lid on the score, brought in insurance in the form of RVP for Chica which I believe was not the right switch as he ended up being a spectator towards the end. Valencia on the right could not make any impact on the game with Rafael tied up in the defence and his one dimensional play restricting him to make any meaningful contribution. I feel Young would have been an ideal replacement for Nani and could bring more to the table than Valencia could with his erratic passes (from his last few games).

           There was a brief moment of possession for the reds after the Chelsea substitution but again were robbed off, courtesy Cleverley keeping the momentum. L When you are continually attacked in the final third, there is every possibility that few would breach the goal line and so it did with Ramires being the architect with a marvellous run finishing with a low curl brushing De Gea’s fingers. After the first half, United suffered for tempo and rhythm and were clearly outshone in every department. Welbeck replacing Kagawa to bring fresh legs did little to ease the pressure as I could spot 21 players camped in United’s half.

            The last 15 minutes were a harrowing experience for me as the possibility of playing just for one trophy from being in competition for three few days ago loomed large. United were able to see through to the final whistle though not without a scare. Mata’s low driving effort was instinctively deflected away by De Gea’s with his legs which otherwise would have been a winner for Chelsea and deservingly so.

            2-2 is definitely a great score for the neutrals and the ones not to have enjoyed the outcome would be us – United fans for squandering a SF clash with City and having to face the same foe again sometime in the next few weeks. I was surprised to see a lot of headlines referring to Chelsea earning a replay at Old Trafford. With all due respect, it was United who undeservingly earned a replay at Stamford Bridge which is not going to be an easy affair so to speak.

           If I were to pick a player who was worth his salt yesterday, I will go with Carrick belying his age with a fantastic performance. I feel aggrieved that FA had ignored the services of Scholes earlier and Carrick now by not picking them. If the FA is content with stars and not the players who can make a difference on the pitch, it is their loss (or United’s gain as to how you view).

PS1: It is bold for me to say that Sir Alex was not at his tactical best yesterday by bringing in Valencia instead of Young and allowing Cleverley to stay the whole 90 minutes. Hey it is my view of course and the gaffer may have had his own reasons.

PS2: To think Howard Webb officiating the match yesterday and knowing about how much stick he gets for allegedly being United’s twelfth man, I was secretly hoping if that so happens to be true to avoid any panic attacks. But then, he had a good game after all being a neutral he is supposed to be.