The 5 greatest Chelsea vs Manchester United clashes in recent times

Manchester United vs Chelsea, Wembley Stadium, FA Community Shield 2009

Chelsea with the Community Shield: 2009

The Community Shield in 2009 was an affair between the 2008-09 EPL Champions Manchester United and the FA Cup Champions Chelsea. Chelsea had only managed a draw against United when they played at Stamford Bridge the previous season. At the Old Trafford, United romped past Chelsea with a 3-0 victory.

This was Carlo Ancelotti’s first competitive match as Chelsea manager after his appointment.

The proceedings at the iconic Wembley Stadium got off to a flier. Chelsea nearly got the lead off a tricky Frank Lampard corner turned goal-wards. Patrice Evra headed the bounced ball into the bar for the clearance. Manchester United broke the deadlock with few simple passes and a long-range stunner from Nani.

It only took 10 minutes for the Red Devils to get off the mark. Nani was absolutely pocketing Branislav Ivanovic, who wore out during the toil. United came close to adding to their lead with Ji-Sung Park but Petr Cech made a scrambling save. A few moments later Didier Drogba wasted an opportunity to level the game but he took a poor shot straight at Ben Foster.

Chelsea went out of the frying pan right into the fire, Manchester built immediately from Foster’s save. Berbatov got a neat one-two with Park and ran right into the open Chelsea box. Cech ran out of his lines to make a terrific save off Berbatov. Park attempted to hit the rebound by Cech grabbed onto the ball.

In the second half, Chelsea romped right back into the game. Florent Malouda looped a ball into the box which was parried unconvincingly by Ben Foster. The ball fell right into Ricardo Carvalho who headed the ball into the net. United dealt a tough blow as Nani was helped off the pitch following a discomforting shoulder during the hour mark.

Controversy hit the game soon after. United was coming forth to a serious threat from Rooney. Chelsea managed to blast the ball forward and to their joy, it fell right into Didier Drogba. Drogba had Anelka and Lampard alongside in a 3v2 situation. He picked Lampard up whose shot took a big piece of Foster’s glove, hit the sidebar and bounced into the line before coming back out.

The problem, however, was at the other end. Patrice Evra was clearly fouled as he let go off the ball to Rooney by Michael Ballack. The referee didn’t blow the whistle and neither did Chelsea stop the play as Evra grimaced in pain. The goal would never have been scored had the free-kick been awarded.

Chelsea held on somehow until the 90th minute but the masters of late goals struck late again. Ryan Giggs treaded a desperation through ball to Wayne Rooney. Rooney finished under pressure from the defenders and Cech to tie things up and send the game to the dreaded shootouts.

Lampard stepped up first for Chelsea and converted. Giggs went first in line for United and he executed a very poor penalty, with no power and placement which Cech easily save off his long legs. Ballack, Carrick, and Drogba then scored for their respective teams in that order. Patrice Evra was next up for United.

Evra with a carbon copy of Giggs penalty, no power and neither any precision just rolled the ball into the diving Cech. Deco stepped up to seal the deal and had to rotate with Salomon Kalou, as per the order given to the referee. Kalou didn’t mind the business and he blasted the ball into the top corner giving Ancelotti his first title as Chelsea manager.