Manchester United 1-2 Chelsea: As It Happened

Chelsea have taken a huge step towards ending Manchester United's reign as champions. Read our blow by blow account.

by Lochlann Mac a' Bháird

FULL TIME: MANCHESTER UNITED 1-2 CHELSEA

14.43: Well an exciting finish to a game that didn't really feature a great deal of quality football, but with so much at stake, that's not unusual.

Alex Ferguson said before the game that he wouldn't settle for a draw, Carlo Ancelotti said he thought the winner of this match would win the league.

It's not over yet - still five games to go.

That's it from me, thanks for following it with us.

14.38: And that's it - United's pressure comes to nothing.

14.36: One minute left, and Chelsea have the ball

14.35: Another dreadful kick-out from Cech invites still more pressure. Nani goes down holding his face after some accidental contact from Ferreira.

14.35: Four minutes of Fergie time...

14.34: Berbatov misses a volley from the penalty spot after a great cross from Neville.

14.33: Lots more shots of Wayne Rooney looking glum...

14.32: Terry gives away the ball and invites more pressure from United, as we move into the final minute of normal time.

14.30: Three minutes left...

14.27: Ballack came on during the aftermath of that goal, I didn't see who came off. Fletcher goes in the book for dissent after a blatant foul.

14.25: That goal came from great play by Nani, who broke down the left and flashed a ball across the six-yard box. Cech dived at it, but could only direct it to Macheda, who somehoe bundled it in. Some of the guys in the office are saying chest - I thought it was hand.

MANCHESTER UNITED 1-2 CHELSEA

14.24: Macheda pulls one back for United. Looked a rather blatant handball to me...

GOAL TO UNITED

14.23: That goal was on 79 minutes, so not much time for United to come back into it.

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-2 CHELSEA

It's that man Drogba. Miles offside. Good pass from Kalou though.

GOAL FOR CHELSEA

14.21: United back away from Kalou tempting fate...but he blazes impressively over with his left foot.

14.19: Chelsea's first attack in a while sees Kalou cross to nobody. John Obi Mikel is down 'injured' but nobody seems to care. He is up again.

14.17: United, and Fletcher in particular, are adamant that the ball hitting Malouda high on his shoulder while travelling at the speed of light merits a penalty. Not today it doesn't.

14.16: Joe Cole, booked for not retreating quickly enough from the free, is replaced by Solemn Canoe. I mean Solomon Kalou.

14.14: 'Kiko' (apparently) Macheda replaces Park, while Nani (chuckle) comes on for Scholes. The latter's first involvment is to win a free in an advanced position wide on the left.

14.13: Deco becomes the first Chelsea player to go into the book, for a mis-timed tackle.

Didier Drogba has entered the fray, replacing Anelka.

14.12: Paul Scholes and Gary Neville both benefit from another unofficial rule of football: Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry and any player in a Manchester United jersey can say whatever they want to a referee without being booked.

14.11: Here comes Droggers...

14.10 Mr Mulligan says that 'the next goal will probably decide the league.' He may have a point.

14.07: More fine play from Giggs sees Park have another half chance, but Terry blocks well, and again, the rebound is kind to Chelsea.

14.06 Cech comes for an Evra cross and fails to collect, but the scraps fall Chelsea's way. United looking much more likely at the moment.

14.05: Andy Gray reckons that 'in this league' you need to win the ball back when you don't have it. That really marks it out from most other leagues.

14.04: Berbatov goes very close with a header after a good spell of United pressure, with Giggs in particular posing a threat. Deano ignored several lunges from both teams in that passage of play. He seems determined to make as few decisions as possible today.

14.03: Ferdinand fouls Anelka repeatedly, Mike Deane watches, indifferently.

14.01: Fletcher does his best to prove me wrong (Magical Thinking) and makes an incisive run, before playing in Park, whose shot blazes over. United beginning to put a few passes together.

13.59: I was busy typing and didn't see who it was, but Chelsea have conceded a free. Giggs shaped to shoot, but instead chipped a sly pass to a laughably offside Berbatov, who stumbled anyway. Contender for worst free kick of the season.

13.58: Berbatov shows his class with a fine interchange with Darren Fletcher, but the Scotsman can't get onto the Bulgarian's flick.

Am I the only one who thinks Fletcher is nothing but a foul machine?

Carlos reckons that 'its only a matter of time before kiko nicks 2 goals.' Kiko, I believe, is Federico Machedo.

13.55: After Chelsea's near miss with Ferreira, it's been very scrappy in the second half. Evra tries an ambitious (to be generous) volley. It does not come off.

13.54: Sven Goran Eriksson, new Ivory Coast coach and all round good guy, is in the crowd. He, like a lot of Chelsea fans, is probably hoping Didier Drogba makes an appearance at some stage.

13.51: Ferreira should really have scored there after an excellent pass from Joe Cole. That would really have put the pressure on the home side.

13.50: Chewing gum update: Carlo Ancelotti is also indulging. I thought he had more class.

13.49: It's been all United for the second half. (All one minute of it.)

13.48: And we're back in action. Berbatov and Park get the second half underway, both no doubt still wondering where their penalties are.

13.47: Eoin wants to add that the best bit of football he's seen today is the 'horrible ad that shows Rooney playing against Rooney.'

13.45: I just had a banana, and it wasn't great. They rarely are. Much like MASSIVE matches like this, that often end up being pretty boring.

Eoin reckons that: 'Playing for United has ruined Berbatov. He would have scored chances like that all day long at Spurs. Now he's afraid to shoot.'

HALF-TIME MANCHESTER UNITED 0-1 CHELSEA

13.31: John Terry concedes a needless free-kick on the outside ofthe box, Giggs hits an inswinger, but Ferreira clears. Chelsea break, but it breaks down again.

13.30: Gary Neville follows Scholes into the book for a terrible tackle on Malouda.

13.28: Another penalty shout for United - Berbatov tries to control in the box, but Lampard comes in, sort of from behind but a little bit from the side, and gets enough of the ball to get away with it.

He did throw his hands up in the international symbol for 'I've just committed a foul, but please don't give a penalty', so I'm still not sure about that one.

13.27: Lampard is furious after his tackle on Fletcher ends up in a United throw-in - he was convinced the ball took a nick off the Scotsman on its way out.

13.25: The corner didn't come to much. I've already forgotten what happened actually, it was so non-eventful.

13.24: Neville puts in a good cross from the left, Alex chests it clear for a corner when perhaps Cech could have collected.

13.22: Frank Lampard pushes Valencia off the pitch. Goal kick. Pretty standard decision there. There are the rules, and then there are the real rules, that we're not supposed to know about, one of which is: Defenders can push forwards over if the ball is nearly going out for a goalkick.

13.20: Paul Scholes gets booked, belatedly, after scything down Malouda. Deane had played a good advantage, but Chelsea's attack petered out.

13.19: Sky's statisticians erroneously tell us that there have only been two shots on target, both for Chelsea. They seem to have forgotten Evra's weak effort, as I'm sure he'd like to himself.

13.17: Replay confirms that Neville's body check was probably slightly more of a definite penalty than Park's definite penalty.

13.16: Gary Neville all but assaults Anelka in the box, no penalty. Poor Mike Deane appears to have really let the big bad meeja get to him.

13.13: For the 34 millionth time in his career, Paul Scholes escapes a booking for a bad tackle. This time Deco was the victim.

13.12: Replays show it was a pretty clearcut penalty. Andy Gray blames the publicity Mike 'The Penalty' Deane has been getting of late. Apparently 'the media' say he gives too many penalties.

13.11: Mike Dean makes one of two terrible decisions - Park Ji-Sung is either fouled or dives in the box, Deano ignores it.

13:09: A third corner for Chelsea. They're keeping the pressure on United, who have been extremely subdued.

13.07: Fergie is not impressed. His gum is getting chewed extra hard.

13.05: Excellent work by Florent Malouda on the left, he holds off Darren Fletcher's attempts to foul him, cuts into the box, and squares it across the six-yard box - where Joe Cole meets it with a typically cheeky backheel.

13.05: GOAL TO CHELSEA

13.04: Joe Cole runs around in circles for about five minutes, while being repeatedly fouled by Ryan Giggs. He eventually falls over, Mike Dean waves play on.

13.02: Another reminder, if you need it, that United haven't done well in games following European encounters this season - with losses to Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and possibly another team that I can't remember right now.

13.01: Another corner for Chelsea... but it's wasted, like about 99.9% of Steven Gerrard's corners are. I know he's not playing, but he's really, really bad at taking corners.

13.00: Evra brushes off a number of challenges to burst down the left, but his shot is as tame as a budgie and trickles into Cech's waiting arms.

12.59: It's the turn of Cech to make a hash of a clearance, but his lofted left-footed kick is headed to safety by Zhirkov.

12.57: A dreadful clearance from Vidic gives Joe Cole a chance, but he scuffs his shot and the excellent (if grumpy) van der Sar collects easily.

Nervy start from both sides.

12.55: Valencia, who is roughly four million times better that Nani, crosses for Berbatov, but it's a little behind him, so his header lacks power and doesn't trouble Cech

12.54: Most of Chelsea's play has been channeled through Deco, a player supposedly free to leave in the summer.

12:52: Anelka hasn't scored a goal since Drogba returned from the African Cup of Nations

12.50: United's first real attack ends when a clearance hits Valencia in the face and goes out for a goal kick.

12.48: A lofted pass from Deco towards Anelka sees Nemanja vidic concede a soft corner, which Lampard takes - Alex wins the header, but it drifts harmlessly wide.

Chelsea starting the brighter.

12.46: Deco has an early shot, but it trails wide.

12.45: And we're off. Martin Tyler tells us that when the two sides have met as the top two, on four occasions, it's been two draws and two wins - for Chelsea.

12.44: Wayne Rooney looks something beyond forlorn as he looks on from high above the pitch.

12.43: I'm going to throw a prediction out there. Chelsea to win 3-1. No reason for that, just have a feeling...

12.39: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is one clean sheet away from 100 in the Premier League. Fancy his chances of making it today?

12.35: Derek has emailed to say he was very impressed with my colleague Tadhg Peavoy's tracker on Leinster's win over Munster.

Derek reckons: 'Utd to win today 1-0. Think Macheda could come on and score. Utd to show today that they're not just a one man team, and can still do well without Rooney!'

12.33: With Wayne Rooney's much-publicised injury, and Didier Drogba only making the bench after picking up a knock in training, there is a lot of pressure on Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka today.

Which of the (world-class) back up strikers will emerge the happier?

12.30: 15 minutes to go until kick-off. Alex Ferguson (as a Donegal man, he's one of the few people I don't refer to as 'sir') says that while a win would put either team in pole position, it wouldn't definitively decide the league.

Welcome to our text commentary of the potentially title deciding clash between Manchester United and Chelsea.

Can either of these two teams take a decisive step towards the title by beating their main rivals?

Or will a draw see Arsenal move right back into the mix?

The game kicks off at 12.45pm.

The team news is in:

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes, Park, Berbatov.
Subs: Kuszczak, Carrick, Nani, Rafael Da Silva, Macheda, Gibson, De Laet.

Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Alex, Terry, Zhirkov, Joe Cole, Deco, Lampard, Mikel, Malouda, Anelka.
Subs: Turnbull, Drogba, Ballack, Kalou, Sturridge, Belletti, Bruma.

Referee: Mike Dean will be the man in black. Or yellow. Or whatever colour it is referees wear these days.