Independent:
Manchester United 3 Chelsea 1
By Sam Wallace at Old Trafford
If there was one consolation for Andre Villas-Boas yesterday it was that, unlike many young managers' first defeat at Old Trafford, he need not remember it as a humiliating experience. Eventually, he might even see it the way the rest of us did: as one of those football matches with the drama and unpredictability to make you shake your head in disbelief.
In terms of its ebb and flow, it did not feel like a 3-1 win for Manchester United, but then it did not feel like any game in recent memory. There were two offside goals and one miss from Fernando Torres that defied explanation, although Wayne Rooney's shanked penalty was not too far behind. There was the brilliant and there was the sheer erratic. It was football-eh-bloody-hell and it is only halfway through September.
The basic truth is that United have gone clear at the top of the Premier League with five wins from five games and 21 goals, which gives them two points on Manchester City, who drew yesterday. But that does not begin to tell half the story of a match played on the brink from start to finish and in which, despite the result, Chelsea had the upper hand for long periods.
Where to start? How about near the end when Torres, a dominant performer who scored within 30 seconds of the start of the second half, again ran through on goal and tricked his way around David de Gea. Old Trafford braced itself for him to pull the trigger and from a few yards out he stumbled on to the ball and put it to the left side of the post.
It was yet another moment that defied the usual narrative of a match. Just 30 seconds after half-time Torres had scored the kind of goal that made him look like Torres once more. Then his miss made you ask yourself all over again whether he really has sorted himself out. Sir Alex Ferguson compared it to Diego Forlan's infamous miss for United against Juventus in pre-season in 2003. But this was not a friendly in the United States. This was one of the biggest games of the season.
The other conspicuous miss came from Rooney, whose standing leg gave way when he took a penalty 10 minutes after the break, which meant that he scooped the ball wide in the fashion of John Terry in the 2008 Champions League final. "The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world," Villas-Boas said afterwards.
Although they went in at half-time three goals down, this was a decent Chelsea performance. They attacked United throughout and there was a bad miss from Ramires on 26 minutes with the score at 1-0 when he allowed De Gea to scramble back and push the ball around the post. That said, Ramires was excellent and so too the likes of Juan Mata and Torres as Chelsea's confidence grew in the second half.
There were plenty of signs that this is a new Chelsea era. As Villas-Boas switched to a 4-4-2 formation in the second half with Mata behind Torres, it was Frank Lampard whom he withdrew to make room for Nicolas Anelka and in the latter stages Romelu Lukaku came on. So far Villas-Boas seems to be carrying his team with him, even in the difficult times. He said later in his immaculate English that the players "had balls" to fight back in the second half – and he was right.
Chelsea lost the game in those first two goals of the game, and both of them were offside. Chris Smalling was offside when he headed in Ashley Young's free-kick from the left. Then, when Luis Nani took Jonny Evans' crossfield ball on his chest and set off for his brilliant run and shot for the second, he did so having come from an offside position. Villas-Boas could have chosen to kick up a stink but, five games into his Premier League career, he decided against going to war with the officials.
That said, Nani's goal was a classic. He went past Mata's half-baked challenge, picked up speed as Raul Meireles came over to intercept his run and unleashed a shot of some violence into the top-left corner of Petr Cech's goal. It was the crowning moment of Nani's performance. He was the game's outstanding player, although he was run close by De Gea and Torres too, until the latter's Ronny Rosenthal moment.
The telling stat of the day was that Nani has scored the same number of goals, 19, in his first 100 games for the club as Cristiano Ronaldo did in his, and Nani is comfortably ahead on assists, 33 to 12 over the same time frame. Yesterday Nani was as important to United as Rooney.
There was no dispute over United's third, which was made by a great forward run from Phil Jones, who opened up Chelsea and played in Nani. His backheel was intercepted by Terry but the ball ricocheted off Nani and back to Rooney, who scored. It had come entirely against the run of play, which had turned in Chelsea's favour after the second goal.
It should have killed Chelsea. If anything it may have emboldened Villas-Boas to make his decisive changes. "A very, very strange game," the Chelsea manager said later. Yet even when Torres ran on to Anelka's through ball and sent a flawless chip over De Gea you could not have imagined the ensuing chaos. On 55 minutes Jose Bosingwa ran into the back of Nani and the referee, Phil Dowd, awarded United a penalty. Rooney's slip and miss prompted a bout of impromptu gardening from the striker as he replaced the turf.
Before his big miss, Torres might have had another but De Gea saved his first effort and the striker put the second over. On 77 minutes there was a bad late challenge from Ashley Cole on Javier Hernandez as the latter tried to bury a Rooney shot that came off the post. Cole was booked but no penalty was given because Hernandez's shot had already gone into touch before connection was made. Either way it was a bad one.
In injury time Cole got back to get substitute Dimitar Berbatov's shot off the line. It was the last act to a complicated story. The momentum is undoubtedly with United, but Chelsea and their young manager are by no means finished yet.
Substitutes: Man United Valencia (Smalling, 62), Carrick (Anderson, 62), Berbatov (Hernandez, 79). Chelsea Anelka (Lampard, h-t), Lukaku (Sturridge, 69), Mikel (Meireles, 79).
Booked: Man United Valencia, Fletcher.Chelsea Cole, Ramires, Terry.
Man of the match Nani. Match rating 8/10. Possession Man United 50% Chelsea 50%. Attempts on target: Man United 7 Chelsea 9.
Referee P Dowd (Staffordshire).
Attendance 75,455.
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Guardian:
Manchester United maintain their winning start by beating Chelsea
Kevin McCarra at Old Trafford
The two most powerful teams in the land in recent years combined to put on an enthralling spectacle of frailty. Chelsea, in view of the result, might look second rate. They were indeed inferior but Manchester United's lead would have been trimmed had Fernando Torres not declined to take his second goal of the afternoon. Having carried a Ramires pass away from the Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea he shot wide in the 83rd minute.
United's 3-1 advantage was therefore undisturbed. Even so, Torres had not really added a new episode to the stories of his tribulations at Chelsea. He ought to be remembered best for the instant of perfect confidence when he took a through ball from the substitute Nicolas Anelka and flighted the ball home with a sure, right-footed finish.
Sir Alex Ferguson, of course, can still live happily with this occasion and all the more so when a two-point lead over Manchester City was opened up in the Premier League. Chelsea have been beaten for the fourth time in a row by United, yet André Villas-Boas has no cause to dwell on that statistic. The past cannot be the responsibility of a manager in his debut season at Stamford Bridge. He should instead be heartened by the vigour with which his men rallied.
As a man without any obligations to the club's history and many of the people in the lineup who shaped it, he had no compunction about withdrawing a person seen as a focal point of the side. At 33, it will be hard for Frank Lampard to retain such status. Employed in a relatively defensive midfield role, as he was here, it is impossible for him to make enough of a contribution. If, on the other hand, he lacks the drive to come through and scored as often as he once did, the England midfielder cannot contribute the goals that have been the core of his value.
Chelsea, as a whole, may have left the north-west with at least a trace of encouragement, yet there were moments when the whole match might have come crashing down on their heads. The home side could have had the invitation to take a fourth goal but the referee, Phil Dowd, awarded no penalty in the 77th minute because he judged the ball had just gone out of play before Ashley Cole caught and injured Javier Hernández with his challenge.
But United need not brood because they are victorious. While it is understood that Chelsea have some players in the latter stages of their careers, the experience has made up for the decline until now. In this game, though, the vivacity of the hosts did them harm.
Villas-Boas is a newcomer and while his worth is scarcely in dispute, the Portuguese manager has much further to go in the transfer market and in the promotion of younger players on the staff before the essential dynamism is visible in all the areas of the side where it is necessary.
Torres could help in the revitalisation. This was his second goal for the club since the £50m move from Liverpool in January but the burden of that recent past looked as if it had been lifted from him, even though he was so wasteful seven minutes from the close. Fallibility was all the rage. Wayne Rooney wasted a penalty. Having struck the bar, Nani was brought down by José Bosingwa in the panic that ensued. Rooney then lost his footing as he miskicked the spot-kick wide in the 56th minute.
It would be unfair, all the same, to be unduly engrossed by erratic incidents when the match was crammed with endeavour and talent.
United's assumption of a new identity is taken for granted merely because they top the table but there should be a pause to appreciate how uncanny it is that a newcomer such as Phil Jones and Jonny Evans, a centre‑half hitherto viewed as cover for the real defenders Ferguson needs, are thriving. Chris Smalling, perceived not so long ago as a man for the middle of the back four, is a right-back now but he still retained overtones of his former life when he was in the centre of the goalmouth and, it appeared, in a marginally offside position as he headed an Ashley Young set piece into the net after eight minutes.
Torres ought to have levelled four minutes later after Anderson inadvertently gave him the ball but the Spaniard missed the target.
United led 2-0 following a splendid 20-yarder from Nani and, on the verge of the interval John Terry crashed a clearance against the winger, with the ball running to Rooney for a simple finish. Despite United's solid lead, the game seldom paused and Ashley Cole was on the goalline to clear a shot from the substitute Dimitar Berbatov in stoppage time at the close of the day.
Chelsea, for their part, would have tied the score at 1-1 in the 26th minute had Ramires's shot not hit De Gea after a Torres pass. This was a day with an erratic tone but Ferguson's side, with all five League games won, continued on their formidably steady course.
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Telegraph:
Manchester United 3 Chelsea 1
By Henry Winter, at Old Trafford
This was an extraordinary game, chaos and class writ large. This was a match that had everything: spectacular strikes, horrendous misses and relentless scrutiny of the beauty and blemishes of a star’s technique.
One moment Wayne Rooney was tapping home, the next he was slipping up. One moment Fernando Torres was finishing like Romario, the next like Ronnie Rosenthal. Great game, crazy game.
This was also a day that saw second-placed Manchester City dropping points at Fulham, strengthening Manchester United’s belief that they will retain their title.
Even in third gear, the champions offered too broad a range of goalscoring options from Chris Smalling’s header, Nani’s majestic strike and Rooney’s close-ranger.
A limp linesman’s flag helped with the first two but nobody exploits hesitant defending more brutally than Rooney and company.
Alarmingly for United’s rivals, the history books show that Sir Alex Ferguson’s thoroughbreds traditionally lengthen their stride only in January. Not this year.
Not with Rooney, Nani, Ashley Young and Phil Jones in this sort of form. United have come flying out of the starting gate, racing to their best opening to a league season in 26 years: five games, five wins, 21 goals for, four against.
Chelsea’s numbers are far less impressive: 10 points, three wins, eight scored, six conceded. Even in the frustration of defeat, Chelsea can take heart and invaluable knowledge from events in the second half here, especially in the reaction of their young manager Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese coach proved he was a man with a game plan that could serve Chelsea well.
Trailing 3-0 at the interval, Villas-Boas had to be bold. He had no choice, of course. Ignominy loomed. The Stretford End was crowing, revelling in what appeared another stroll down coronation street.
Chelsea’s fans kept singing, chanting “we’re going to win 4-3”, but it was more in hope than expectation.
So Villas-Boas acted, introducing Nicolas Anelka for the anonymous Frank Lampard and successfully revamping the system from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1.
Suddenly, there was more belief, more movement, more of a platform for Torres. Chelsea were more open, running more freely, the handbrake off.
Torres scored within 29 seconds and looked far happier. Even the memory of a remarkable late miss, the ball ending up among jubilant home fans after he had confidently rounded David de Gea, cannot mask the reality that this was a greatly improved display by Torres.
At the final whistle, the £50 million man shook hands with Jonny Evans, then Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher before Rooney walked up, embraced Chelsea’s No 9 and whispered a few words.
Rooney, too, had suffered deep embarrassment as well as joy in front of goal, his left foot failing to grip the turf as his right bore down into the ball, so scuffing his penalty.
But Rooney’s hug with Torres was not a mutual pitying society; it was a reflection that even the best can make mistakes, that class will eventually out.
For all the local cackling over Torres’s aberration, the Spaniard left Old Trafford with more of a swagger in his step. No wonder. Villas-Boas appears to have designed a system that helps Torres.
Behind him, Anelka was busy on the left, Juan Mata far more influential in the hole while Daniel Sturridge and eventually Romelu Lukaku worked the right.
Anelka, Sturridge and Lukaku are not natural wide players but they may have to sacrifice elements of their game for the collective good.
Chelsea, who have too often relied on their full-backs for width in recent years, still need some wingers.
Whether this 4-2-3-1 system wins trophies remains to be seen but it can be the only way forward for Chelsea. Villas-Boas deserves long-term support in his attempt to rejuvenate Chelsea; that second period, and particularly the manager’s decisiveness, confirmed he is on the right path.
This was his first league defeat since April 2010 when his Academica side lost to Benfica but Villas-Boas took pride from the performance, and particularly the 21 opportunities created at the citadel of the champions.
Even in the first half, as United rattled in three, Chelsea were hardly poor. As the game opened, Torres ran at United’s defence until stopped by Evans’ magnificent tackle.
The champions woke up, seizing the lead after eight minutes when Smalling headed in Young’s free-kick. Whatever the legitimacy of the visitors’ squeals for offside, nothing could justify the lax nature of the marking by Lampard in particular.
Back came Chelsea, Torres and Lampard shooting wide before Ramires was denied by De Gea. Even when United are not excelling they work so hard to close down opponents and then open them up.
With eight minutes of the half remaining, Evans caught Chelsea out with a long pass to Nani. Evans also caught the linesman out. Nani was fractionally offside but dropped back, collected the ball and glided towards goal. Mata’s challenge was too lame.
Raul Meireles’s attempted interception too late. Petr Cech stood no chance as Nani let fly. Having put Chelsea’s defence in a spin, the winger celebrated in suitably head-over-heels fashion.
There was more. As the game melted towards the interval, Jones embarked on one of those lengthy charges that are making him a cult figure at Old Trafford.
Having exchanged passes with Rooney, Jones kept going, soon receiving a back-heel from Nani. Jones’ determination eventually saw the ball rebound from John Terry to Nani and then Rooney, who easily tucked away his ninth of the season.
The future of one Rooney’s England colleagues then came under unforgiving focus. In the stock market of footballing fortunes, now’s the time to sell any shares in Lampard.
Villas-Boas’s desire for Chelsea to support Torres more quickly is an issue for the 33-year-old Lampard. Anelka immediately released Torres into the box. The finish was a gem, echoing one of Romario’s clinical lifted balls over the keeper.
After all the hits, it was time for the misses, for Rooney’s failed penalty and a shot against the post. Torres was denied by De Gea before firing over and then skewing that shot wretchedly wide.
There was also time for Ashley Cole to catch Javier Hernández with a filthy challenge that brought yellow but could have drawn red. Cole survived to clear Dimitar Berbatov’s effort off the line.
Great game, crazy game.
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Manchester United 3 Chelsea 1: Champions pull clear at summit after dismantling rivals
By Matt Lawton
It was, as Andre Villas- Boas said, a 'crazy, chaotic' game. As torturous for some as it was tremendous for others, and for Chelsea's manager a rather more memorable meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson than that brief encounter at a coaching conference.
Inside the tortured mind of Fernando Torres it probably amounts to a nightmare. His miss, seven minutes before the end, is sure to haunt him and will only feed what Villas-Boas already considered an 'obsession' with the most expensive player in the history of English football.
But this is one of the reasons why this contest was so utterly insane, because it was the Spaniard's finest performances in a Chelsea shirt and the most compelling evidence yet that he is on the way to returning to his best.
The miss and another squandered opportunity aside, Torres was excellent. Strong, sharp and athletic, he took the goal he did score beautifully and created a couple of chances that his colleagues really should have converted, too.
But Sunday was about so much more than Torres. It was about Manchester United being clinical enough to emerge from such a fiercely contested first half with a three-goal lead; the fact that they would have scored a fourth had Wayne Rooney not slipped to send his penalty kick wide.
It was about the sight of Nani not only scoring a brilliant goal but also destroying Ashley Cole in a manner Cristiano Ronaldo never quite managed. Cole was such a chastened figure that his frustration was manifested in a shocking challenge on Javier Hernandez, who was as lucky not to leave the field with a broken ankle as Cole was to escape with a yellow card from Phil Dowd.
There were marvellous performances and some miserable ones.
Phil Jones was magnificent alongside the similarly impressive Jonny Evans. For Frank Lampard, however, it was nothing like as satisfying. Hooked during the interval after a difficult first half that included his failure to track Chris Smalling for the opening goal, you have to wonder if the 33-year-old will occupy the role of spectator more and more.
It was a day when records tumbled. As well as matching United's best start to a league campaign since 1985, it was also the club's 18th successive home league win - equalling a record that dates back to the 1904-05 season. For Villas-Boas it marked the end of an astonishing run. This was his first league defeat in 37 matches, dating back to April 2010 when his Academica side lost 3-2 at home to Benfica.
Victory for United owed much to Chelsea's defensive fragility. Villas-Boas wants his team to play with more intensity, further up the field, but a midfield three of Ramires, Lampard and Raul Meireles did little to protect a back four that was particularly vulnerable to Nani and Ashley Young down the flanks. That said, Chelsea played pretty well at Old Trafford and the first real chance certainly fell to them: Ramires met a cross from Cole with a volley that David de Gea did well to block with his right foot.
It made Smalling's controversial opener all the more painful. The England defender seized not only on some poor defending but some poor officiating to meet Young's free-kick in an offside position and guide a header beyond the reach of Petr Cech.
After receiving a loose pass from Anderson, Torres might have levelled. He did well to accelerate between Anderson and Evans but then scuffed his shot wide. Yet it did not compare to the miss that followed from Ramires, Torres ran on to a delightful pass from Juan Mata and inviting the Brazilian to score only to see him shoot meekly at United's goalkeeper.
Further punishment followed. Nani, controlling a long, diagonal ball from Evans before skipping past Mata, unleashed a 25-yard missile that flew beyond Cech and into the top corner. Villas-Boas can again bemoan that Nani had been in an offside position, but he will also be angry with his midfielders for backing off as much as they did. United's third, scored by Rooney just before the break, exposed yet more defensive indiscipline. A surging run from Jones ended with John Terry's attempted clearance rebounding off Nani and rolling into the path of an unmarked Rooney.
Villas-Boas responded by replacing Lampard with Nicolas Anelka and what a smart move it proved. The France striker produced the pass that enabled Torres to lift the ball over an advancing De Gea with what was a superb finish after less than 30 seconds of the restart.
That there were no more goals was perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this game. Rooney failed to capitalise on Jose Bosingwa's foul on Nani by missing the penalty in the 56th minute and then saw Dimitar Berbatov squander a chance he provided moments before the end.
For Torres, though, it was a touch more painful. First he blasted over from close range after seeing his initial effort parried by De Gea and then came the miss of the match - the former Liverpool striker bursting clear in pursuit of a pass from Bosingwa and rounding De Gea only to send his left-foot shot wide.
All Villas-Boas has to do now is convince Torres he still had a good game.
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Sun:
Man Utd 3 Chelsea 1
By SHAUN CUSTIS
WHEN the end-of-season DVDs come out, this match will deserve a disc all of its own.
And there will be plenty of categories to choose from — comedy penalty starring Wayne Rooney, miss of the season by Fernando Torres, sensational goal featuring Nani and X-rated tackle from Ashley Cole.
The scoreline does not begin to tell the story of one of the most amazing games ever in Premier League history. Honestly, you could replay it again and again and never get bored.
It could have been 6-6, 7-7, 8-5 — anything.
Yet, at the end of it all, United made it five wins out of five to register their best start to a season in the top flight for 26 years — before Alex Ferguson was manager.
Even better the noisy neighbours, Manchester City, dropped points at Fulham giving Fergie's men a two-point lead at the top. United have scored a staggering 21 goals so far in their league campaign, averaging more than four a match.
This was also their 18th straight home league win equalling a record that has stood since 1904-05.
But it was difficult to understand how Chelsea were 3-0 down by half-time having played some great stuff.
And had Torres hit the target after pulling the visitors back to 3-1, the Blues might have gone on to rescue a point.
The Spaniard was much more like a £50million striker than the 50p one he has looked like since his switch from Liverpool. However, his blunder here is one which will haunt him for many a year.
Torres was so often the thorn in United's side as a Red and, when he went through with seven minutes left latching on to Ramires' pass, he got most of the job right.
He cleverly switched the ball from his right foot as he skipped round David De Gea but, with the goal gaping, he somehow shot wide from six yards.
Robert Earnshaw can rest easy. His howler for Wales against England has been relegated to second place in the miss of the season contest. Torres has it in the bag.
Manager Andre Villas-Boas, who lost his first league game as a boss since the season before last — stretching back 37 matches — felt Chelsea should have had a point.
The visitors could have been ahead inside two minutes when De Gea saved with his foot from a Ramires shot. But in the eighth minute Ashley Young's free-kick sailed over to the far post where Chris Smalling got in front of Frank Lampard to head in.
Torres then scuffed a good chance wide after Anderson gave the ball away.
Ramires could not do any better, either, when the Brazilian's mis-hit from Cole's cross allowed De Gea to save.
By 37 minutes United were 2-0 up as Nani collected out wide, went past Juan Mata and unleashed an absolute screamer which gave the diving Petr Cech no chance. Chelsea could not believe they were two behind and it got worse on the stroke of half-time.
Phil Jones exchanged passes with Rooney and battled his way into the box.
John Terry came across with a sliding clearance which hit Nani and, as luck would have it, fell into the path of Rooney who made no mistake for his ninth goal of the season.
Villas-Boas replaced Lampard with Nicolas Anelka at the break and moved Mata in-field — and the benefit was instant.
Anelka played a defence-splitting pass for Torres, who coolly flicked past the helpless De Gea.
It was only Torres' second goal in 24 games as a Blue but it was one which had been coming.
United then won the penalty which seemed certain to set the seal on the afternoon after Nani hit another rasper which was deflected on to the bar and, when it bounced down, he was fouled by Jose Bosingwa before he could get to the follow-up.
Up stepped the normally reliable Rooney whose left foot slid from under him as he set himself for the strike with the result that, as he connected, he hit the ball off his sliding foot and it skewed wide.
Memories of David Beckham's misses from the spot in the Euro qualifier in Turkey eight years ago and in the shootout against Portugal at Euro 2004 came to mind.
Terry could relate to it, too, seeing as he missed against United in the Champions League in Moscow when, had he not slipped over, Chelsea would have won the trophy. United had another chance to put the game to bed only for Rooney to turn Patrice Evra's cross against the foot of the post.
As the ball bounced away, Javier Hernandez came in to finish it off and Cole caught him with a horrible challenge which left the Mexican writhing in a heap.
Cole was lucky to escape with a booking but no penalty was given as the ball was out of play. Hernandez could take no further part, limping down the tunnel and Fergie was understandably angry.
But he was a relieved man when Torres produced his miss of misses and there was still time for Cole to clear off the line from sub Dimitar Berbatov.
As the final whistle blew Rooney went over to Torres, put an arm round his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
Wonder what he said — thanks for sharing the embarrassment perhaps?
DREAM TEAM
STAR MAN - NANI (Man Utd)
MAN UTD: De Gea 8, Smalling 8 (Valencia 6), Jones 7, Evans 6, Evra 6, Nani 9, Fletcher 6, Anderson 5 (Carrick 6), Young 7, Rooney 7, Hernandez 7 (Berbatov 6). Subs not used: Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Fabio. Booked: Valencia, Fletcher.
CHELSEA: Cech 6, Bosingwa 5, Ivanovic 5, Terry 5, Cole 5, Ramires 8, Meireles 7 (Mikel 6), Lampard 5 (Anelka 8), Sturridge 6 (Lukaku 6), Torres 7, Mata 8. Subs not used: Turnbull, Luiz, Romeu, Malouda. Booked: Ramires, Terry, Cole.
REF: P Dowd 7
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Star:
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 - CHELSEA 1: RED WRECKERS SHATTER BLUES
By Jeremy Cross
MANCHESTER UNITED claimed their biggest victims of the season so far as Sir Alex Ferguson’s red wrecking ball left Chelsea demolished in a bizarre contest at Old Trafford.
So much for this being a clash between two title rivals.
The same was said before Arsenal came to town and Arsene Wenger’s men found themselves on the wrong end of an eight-goal hammering.
This wasn’t the same scoreline, but the outcome was just as significant as United made it clear once and for all which team are still the top dogs of English football.
New Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas suffered his first league defeat in 17 months as a wonder goal from Nani helped make it five straight wins for Fergie’s men.
The champions remain top of the table and if Villas-Boas didn’t appreciate the size of his task in trying to depose United before this, then he will now.
Fergie’s men could even afford to miss a penalty through Wayne Rooney, while a rare goal from Fernando Torres counted for nothing on a miserable afternoon for the visitors and the Spanish flop in particular, when he produced the miss of the season in the closing stages.
Yet Villas-Boas will have spent most of the flight back to London scratching his head at just how the Blues failed to win, let alone lose.
Despite notching a consolation on 46 minutes with only his second league goal in 19 attempts, Torres also squandered a host of other chances.
Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard were also wasteful as the Blues took the game to United, but the worst offender was Ramires, who missed the best chance of all from point-blank range before the break.
The killer instinct, however, belonged to United, who took the lead through Chris Smalling’s first league goal and never looked back.
Nani doubled the advantage with a stunning individual effort on 37 minutes before Rooney’s ninth of the season on the stroke of half-time left the Blues dead and buried.
Fergie was good to his word and recalled David de Gea in goal at the expense of Anders Lindegaard, despite the Danish star’s heroics against Benfica last time out.
Phil Jones, Nani, Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez were also recalled, while Fergie showed his faith in Darren Fletcher for such a crucial clash, despite the fact he has made just two starts in the last six months due to a serious stomach virus.
Dimitar Berbatov had to settle for a place on the bench yet again, while Rio Ferdinand missed out altogether after picking up a knock in training.
Villas-Boas will have spent hours mulling over his team selection for what promised to be the biggest test of his Blues tenure so far.
In the end he kept faith with Torres in attack instead of Nicolas Anelka, while Sturridge was also included with Didier Drogba still out with concussion.
Lampard and John Terry were also recalled as Villas-Boas packed his side with experience for what he knew would be a thorough examination of his team’s title credentials.
Villas-Boas had insisted before kick-off that the result of this clash would have no bearing on the outcome of the title.
True, there is still a long way to go, but a defeat for Chelsea leaves them five points behind a United side which doesn’t look in the mood to lose many games.
The Blues also owed United big time following four defeats to them last season, including two in the Champions League and one on this same ground which all but secured Fergie’s men a record 19th league title.
Revenge could have been on the cards had the visitors had someone capable of taking the chances.
De Gea’s legs denied Ramires inside three minutes, while Sturridge shot wide following an error by Hernandez before Smalling converted Young’s free- kick to head United in front.
But the Blues continued to pile forward, with Torres and Lampard both firing wide before Torres teed up a simple chance for Ramires, only for the Brazilian to fire straight at De Gea.
It proved costly when Nani ghosted past Juan Mata and cut in from the right before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner to double United’s advantage.
It went from bad to worse on the stroke of half-time when Terry’s clearance pinged off Nani’s legs straight to Rooney and the outcome was inevitable.
The England hitman then made a mess of his spot-kick just before the hour mark after Torres had charged on to substitute Anelka’s sublime pass and beat De Gea with a neat finish to pull one back.
Chances continued to come and go, with Torres shooting straight at De Gea then firing the rebound over the bar.
His generosity rubbed off on Rooney, who hit the post in the final quarter as the opportunity to score his third hat-trick in a row passed him by.
But the humiliation belonged to Torres, who rounded De Gea with ease on 84 minutes, only to slice his shot wide with the goal at his mercy – which is exactly where United now have all their rivals.wonder goal puts United in the driving seat
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Mirror:
Manchester Utd 3-1 Chelsea:
By Martin Lipton
Astonishing. Simply, utterly, unforgettably astonishing.
But while United roll on, now clear at the top and still with a 100 per cent record, this was about far more than the scoreline and the table, even if Sir Alex Ferguson and his players want to suggest otherwise.
It was about the goals, yes. Dodgy goals, ridiculous goals and two great goals, one instinctive brilliance, the other, briefly, the rebirth of a deadly predator.
Yet it was equally about the misses, four of them that defied belief, one of which may haunt Fernando Torres until the end of his Chelsea career if he cannot show the strength of character he had demonstrated for the previous 83 minutes.
The purists who say that defence is the best form of attack, will doubtless carp and neither manager will be happy with the huge holes that opened up in front of the regularly exposed David De Gea and Petr Cech.
No one present, nor the millions watching on TV, will agree. They know they witnessed a game that will be remembered for years.
For United, Wayne Rooney dancing into space, a ninth goal of the season, another against the post and a penalty horror show that brought parallels with John Terry in Moscow.
Nani’s runs, Ashley Young destroying poor Jose Bosingwa, Phil Jones surging forward, De Gea making a series of superb saves as Chelsea carved out chances they should have converted.
But for Andre Villas-Boas, suffering a first league defeat since Benfica beat his Academica de Coimbra side 17 months ago, there were almost as many positives as negatives.
Yes, Chelsea’s defending was shambolic at times, never more so for the catalogue of cock-ups that presented Rooney with the third goal in the final minute of the first half, which ended in what must be the most misrepresentative scoreline of the season.
Yet in the attacking movement of Juan Mata, Raul Meireles, Ramires, substitute Nicolas Anelka and especially that of Torres, this was the extra pace that Villas-Boas has demanded.
Of course, in the final analysis, it is the result that counts and United once again, even if without the authority they demonstrated against Arsenal and Bolton, found a way to win.
Quite how was harder to understand. Even before Chris Smalling’s headed opener – only Javier Hernandez was closer to Cech’s goal when Young delivered the free-kick – De Gea had saved from Ramires, while Torres dragged wide.
Then Mata fed Torres, who presented the unmarked Daniel Sturridge with what had to be a tap-in, only for Ramires to steal the ball off his team-mate’s foot and allow De Gea to save.
Cue United’s second. Nani, receiving from Jonny Evans, should also have been flagged in the build-up but Mata, Meireles and Terry reacted far too slowly as the Portuguese scooted forward to smash home from 28 yards.
When Rooney accepted his gift, Terry trying to clear off the floor but instead smashing the ball against Nani into the striker’s path, Chelsea were facing the worst defeat of the Roman Abramovich era, the home fans singing “are you Arsenal in disguise?”
But Villas-Boas hooked Frank Lampard, sent on Anelka and moved Mata into the middle and within 28 seconds of the restart the substitute threaded through for Torres to take a touch then flip exquisitely past De Gea, for his first goal in a Chelsea start at the 16th attempt. Suddenly, an open game became a free-for-all. Mata went close, Nani smashed against the bar but was downed by Bosingwa as he went for the rebound, only for Rooney’s comedy miskick from the spot to follow.
Torres thumped at De Gea and blazed the rebound over before an unmarked Rooney hit the post from six yards, with Ashley Cole so late when he went over the top on Hernandez – it could have been red, not yellow – that the ball was already out of play so there could not be another penalty.
Then Torres’ nightmare, swaying past De Gea with ease but somehow, impossibly, missing the target and dropping to the ground in disbelief.
Whether the £50million man can recover is another issue, although Dimitar Berbatov, found by Rooney, was equally culpable in added time.
Truly astounding. Truly sensational. Truly memorable.
