Substitute Salomon Kalou helped Chelsea secure a 1-1 draw against defending champions Manchester United in their Premiership clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Kalou got the equaliser with just 10 minutes left, after Park Ji-Sung’s first-half goal had United threatening to put an end to Chelsea’s home unbeaten run in the league, which is a record 85 games now, and lasting since February, 2004 when Arsenal was the last team to win a league game at the Blues home..
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Chelsea suffered an injury blow in the pre-match warm-up when Portuguese midfielder Deco picked a thigh strain, as such Germany captain Michael Ballack came into the starting line-up.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s United, who had Cristiano Ronaldo on bench and Dimitar Berbatov in the starting XI, began with a good tempo and seized the control of the game from the word go.
England midfielder Owen Hargreaves lined up on the right side, and made instant impact. His cross saw Darren Fletcher, from a good position, have the first sight of the goal, but the first-time volley was off-target, much due to timely tackle by Ricardo Carvalho.
It was all United for most part of the first half, as the home side surprisingly failed to make much of an impact.
United came close to opening their account when Wayne Rooney tried to catch Petr Cech out of position, but the lob just bounced besides the goalpost and went out of play.
In a rare chance for the Blues in the first 20 minutes, Joe Cole, having a suspected handball in a build-up but flag staying down, failed to keep his shot on target even as Van der Sar failed to get into any sort of position to make a save.
Chelsea had another injury blow as defender Carvalho (knee) went out with Alex coming in as a replacement.
Cech saved his side from falling behind when an adventurous piece of play by Rio Ferdinand saw him continue the run, and Rooney spotting his team-mate in space, crossed the ball to the centre-back. But Ferdinand’s angular shot from right side of the area, struck Cech and went out of play.
Soon after, Park put the Red Devils ahead after Patrice Evra cut back the ball for Berbatov, whose low shot was half-stopped by Cech only to see the South Korean tap the rebound home in 18th minute.
Blues showed the first sign of trying to impose themselves on the proceedings at the half hour mark, but failed to come up with a clear chance. Frank Lampard and Ballack desperately looked to find the equaliser, but their long-range shots did not pose any trouble for the rival keeper.
United keeper Edwin van der Sar suffered a leg injury, and he was replaced by Kuszczak in the 33rd minute.
Scolari sent on striker Didier Drogba at the start of the second half taking off Florent Malouda. The Blues had a change of positions as striker Nicolas Anelka then played from the left even as the home side showed patience in their attempt to build-up attacks.
Ferguson introduced winger Cristiano Ronaldo in the 55th minute for the Portuguese star’s first appearance in the Premiership this season following his recovery from an ankle operation.
The pace of the proceedings pick-up around the hour mark as both sides came up with counter-attacks. However, it was only for a brief period before the tempo slowed down.
In the 66th minute, Chelsea had a superb opportunity to get on level terms as Ballack sent a splendid floater for Joe Cole to race clear from left side. The England winger’s shot was straight into Kuszczak’s body, as he went for glory despite Anelka being in great position.
In another chance in quick succession, Anelka could not turn in a cross from right-back Bosingwa, as the Blues raised their game in search of the equaliser. Soon after, the French striker missed an absolutely open goal as just any kind of deflection would have been good enough for a goal as Kuszczak was not in position following a low cross from Joe Cole.
Chelsea finally managed to get the precious goal as Kalou, who made a clever run to get into space with no one marking him, headed on target in the 80th minute from the six-yard box following a free-kick from deep by John Obi Mikel. The Ivorian forward then could have put his side into the lead, but his shot was deflected for a corner by United skipper Gary Neville.
United defender Alex came up with a crucial block in the 84th minute as Fletcher unleashed a powerful drive at the rival goal, but the Brazilian put his body into the line of the strike to avert the danger to Cech’s goal. The closing stages saw a tense finish as both sides tried to score the winner, but there was no further addition to the scoreline.
Teams:
Chelsea: Cech, Terry, A Cole, Boswinga, Carvalho (Alex 13), Mikel, J Cole, Ballack (Kalou 75), Lampard, Malouda (Drogba 46), Anelka.
Chelsea Substitutes not used: Cudicini, Bridge, Belletti, Ferreira.
Manchester United: van der Saar (Kuszczak 33), Ferdinand, Neville, Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Hargreaves, Scholes (Ronaldo 55), Park (O’Shea 75), Berbatov, Rooney.
Manchester United Substitutes not used:Brown, Giggs, Nani, Tevez.
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