Manchester United 3 – 1 Chelsea

Man United extended their perfect start in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford, making it five wins out of five games.  The red devils raced to a 3-0 lead in the first half before the real drama began in the second half as Chelsea pulled a goal back quickly, Man United hit the woodwork twice, Wayne Rooney missed a penalty, the hosts had another penalty appeal turned down after Hernandez was brought down in the box and Fernando Torres missed the ‘un-missable’ before Ashley Cole cleared off the line.

Darren Fletcher made his first EPL start of the season alongside Anderson in midfield, while David de Gea reclaimed his place between the sticks as Sir Alex Ferguson maintained his faith in Chris Smalling as right back and in Phil Jones and Jonny Evans in central defence. Chelsea started the match brightly, much more brightly than in the same fixture last season when they were a goal down within 36 seconds, as Torres ran forward only to be denied by a superb Jonny Evans tackle.

Man United responded with a goal in the eighth minute. Ashley Young was fouled and he did himself justice by taking the free-kick and finding Chris Smalling, who leapt above everybody and headed the ball past Petr Cech and into the net. Smalling appeared to be slightly offside, but the flag stayed down as he raced to celebrate his first league goal for Man United in front of the Stretford End.

Chelsea could have been back on level terms within minutes after Anderson missed a routine pass and the ball went straight to Fernando Torres, but the Spaniard hadn’t found his shooting boots yet and his shot was wide off the post. The visitors maintained the pressure and David de Gea saved a header from Ivanovic before Lampard shot wide. Man United survived another scare in the 26^th minute after Torres was left clear on the left side and he squared the ball back to Ramires but Man United’s goalkeeper produced a spectacular save to preserve the red devils’ lead. Torres then attempted an overhead kick that did not worry De Gea as the home side withstood the pressure before stepping a gear up as their rivals failed to seize their chances.

With eight minutes left in the first half, Jonny Evans produced a long cross-field pass that found Nani on the right wing. The Portuguese was marginally offside but he dropped back to collect the ball before racing past Mata before firing a powerful shot from 20 yards that left Petr Cech with no chance. Nani celebrated with his trademark somersault while Sir Alex Ferguson looked on in disbelief.

Man United even managed to further extend their lead just before half-time, this time after Phil Jones went on a mazy run from centre back to Chelsea’s penalty box, exchanging passes with Rooney on the way. Jones kept going and he shot at goal after receiving a back-heel pass from Nani. John Terry eventually managed to clear the ball but the rebound ricocheted to Nani and then Rooney, who scored from close range.

With the hosts 3-0 up at half time, many would have thought that the second half would only be a formality. In pure Premier League style though, that was when the real drama and the madness began. Chelsea’s manager Andre Villas-Boas made a bold move at half-time introducing Nicolas Anelka in the place of the barely-there Frank Lampard and revamped Chelsea’s formation from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1. This paid dividends almost immediately as Chelsea had pulled a goal back within 30 seconds of the restart, with Anelka providing a pass to Torres above Man United’s defence and the Spaniard defeating De Gea with a clever finish.

Man United should have killed off the suspense soon after when Nani broke onto a Wayne Rooney pass but his shot only found the bar and the Portuguese was brought down by Bosingwa as he tried to hit the rebound. Referee Phil Down pointed to the penalty spot and Wayne Rooney lined up with disastrous consequences as he lost his footing and his shot finished wide off target.

It all went crazy after that as the home side kept on attacking and Chelsea tried to find another goal of their own. Lukaku was denied by Evra soon after he came on while Torres fired a rebound over after De Gea had saved the initial shot. Rooney then hit the bar after he had been set up in perfect conditions by Patrice Evra. Javier Hernandez raced to reach the rebound first but he was brought down by a dreadful Ashley Cole challenge. Phil Dowd discussed with his assistant while Chicharito received treatment on the pitch and chose to punish Ashley Cole with a yellow card but surprisingly failed to follow up the bookable offence inside the penalty box with a penalty. Unfortunately Hernandez’s match was over and he had to be substituted by Berbatov.

Fernando Torres could have set up a lively end to the match if he had scored his second goal when he was provided with a golden opportunity seven minutes from time. The Spaniard had done everything in the build-up perfectly after he raced to meet Ramires’s ball and rounded David de Gea, but somehow he could not finish the move and shot wide off target and into Stretford End when the net had been empty.

Berbatov also missed a clear chance in the final minutes after Rooney provided him with an unselfish but slightly over-hit pass, however the Bulgarian striker could not put enough force in his shot and Ashley Cole saved off his line.

In the end, it was a deserved win for the red devils who had managed to seize their opportunities in a closely-contested first half to build a big enough gap to survive the chaotic second half. There were even more reasons to celebrate as Man United became sole leaders at the top of the table as rivals Man City were held to a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage.