The visitors had led for much of the contest following Park Ji-sung's first-half tap-in.
But 10 minutes from time, after Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack had tried and failed to break down United's stubborn defence, Kalou exposed United's poor offside trap by nodding home John Mikel Obi's free-kick 10 minutes from time.
Not for the first time in his illustrious career, Ferguson's team selection caused an outbreak of head scratching among United's army of fans.
Yet his choice of Park and Darren Fletcher worked a dream, especially with the Scot switching to the middle of midfield, a move that saw Owen Hargreaves take up a right-wing station.
Identifying Chelsea's full-backs Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole as major attacking threats, Ferguson chose to put his two most energetic men in direct opposition, keeping the home pair occupied defensively and stifling their threat in attack.
Despite their poor recent form, the Red Devils showed their attacking intent from the start, when Fletcher turned Hargreaves' low cross wide, and Chelsea, having lost Deco just before kick-off after the Portugal star was injured in the warm-up, could not get into their stride even though they could call upon Michael Ballack as replacement.
Player of the Match : Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)
0 comments:
Post a Comment