Controversial penalty brings Chelsea back in title hunt

Resham Ahmed March 2, 2011 0

Controversial penalty brings Chelsea back in title hunt

LONDON: The defending champions Chelsea claimed the crucial victory against Barclays English Premier League chart leaders Manchester United on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge and made their way back in the title race.

Rooney celebrates goal. Courtesy: AP PHOTO

It was again all left to the controversy to decide the fate of the match between arch-rivals Manchester United and Chelsea as 79th minute shocked penalty allowed The Blues to score the decisive goal as match was tied with 1-1.

Wayne Rooney scored the opening goal of the match in the 29th minute and gave Red Devils the all important lead. Manchester United dominated the most part of the match but Chelsea had their chances but they failed to capitalize on the opportunities. The score was 1-0 at half time and the Manchester United was the more of the happy camp at interval.

Lampard scores decisive goal. Courtesy: REUTERS

David Luiz scored the important equalizer in the 54th minute of the match and gave Chelsea ray of hope of causing the upset. The lady-luck shined on Chelsea in the 79th minute when they won the controversial penalty and Lampard made no mistake as Chelsea got the lead for the first time in the match.

David Luiz celebartes his goal for Chelsea. Courtesy: GETTY IMAGES

What got worse for the Red Devils was there skipper Nemanja Vidic served the second yellow card in the injury time as he will now miss the Sunday clash against Liverpool.

Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t happy with the result and said, “We defended baldly on the first goal that was bad one to lose. The penalty was soft. But we played very well. I thought it was a great performance by us, and we didn’t deserve that. I’m proud of my players who have done their best, created chances and played good football. They didn’t deserve that.”

Dejected Sir Alex Ferguson. Courtesy: REUTERS

Carlo Ancelotti was happy with his team performance and said, “It was a good performance. We played well. It was a difficult game against a team who played very well. We kept going and played well in the second half. We used strength, power and intensity. In the middle of the first half, they were able to play easily, and were in difficulties. But we came back well and the second half was good.”