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United stays top, Fulham holds City
Source: Agencies |
September 20, 2011, Tuesday
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MANCHESTER United kept calmest among the "chaos" to maintain its perfect start to the English Premier League season with a 3-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday in a match featuring sublime finishes and ridiculous misses.
The champion had kept up its free-scoring ways, going three goals up by halftime at Old Trafford thanks to Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney but the final scoreline did not reflect a game where visiting Chelsea had 21 attempts at goal.
The most awful miss came from Fernando Torres, who inexplicably shot wide in front of an open goal in the 83rd minute, somehow managing to eclipse Rooney's own howler earlier when the United striker slipped while taking a penalty.
As Old Trafford erupted into a loud chuckle at Torres' misfortune, the beleaguered Spaniard fell to his knees unable to believe what had happened on a day where he had otherwise shown glimpses of his best and had netted his first goal of the season.
"Two of the best strikers missed crazy opportunities," Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas told a news conference. "It was a chaotic game."
United, which has won five games out of five, took just eight minutes to go ahead when Smalling headed in an Ashley Young freekick from the left but looked offside. It doubled the score when Nani conjured a chance out of nothing, netting a scorcher from 25 meters out on 37 minutes after an excellent ball across the pitch from Jonny Evans.
The winger celebrated with a cartwheel and from then on United was free-wheeling as Rooney added a third on the stroke of halftime after the ball fell kindly as United took its chances while the visitors did not.
Chelsea, which had missed gilt-edged opportunities through Brazilian Ramires and Torres, came out after the break knowing it needed to do something different and introduced forward Nicolas Anelka for midfielder Frank Lampard.
The substitution paid immediate dividends as the Frenchman put Torres through for a great finish with a flick of his foot as he notched just his second goal for the London club since his record 50 million pound (US$78.97 million) move in January.
Torres had several opportunities as he suggested he was looking more like the player who had sparkled in his Liverpool days and not just because he had ditched his brunette locks in favor of a return to blonde.
Just how he managed to put the ball several meters wide when he had done all the hard work to get through the United defense and past goalkeeper David De Gea will haunt him for some time as a chance he could have scored in his sleep.
Villas-Boas said he was delighted with the way his players had kept pushing after the "negative impact" of the halftime scoreline but it was counterpart Alex Ferguson who had the most to be happy about as United went two points clear at the top.
Elsewhere, Manchester City squandered a two-goal lead to drop its first points of the league season in a 2-2 draw at Fulham.
Roberto Mancini's side seemed set to make it five wins from five as two Sergio Aguero goals put it in charge at Craven Cottage but Fulham hit back through Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy.
City began the day level on 12 points with United.
Also, Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur cruised to a 4-0 victory over nine-man Liverpool and Sunderland routed Stoke City by the same scoreline.
The champion had kept up its free-scoring ways, going three goals up by halftime at Old Trafford thanks to Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney but the final scoreline did not reflect a game where visiting Chelsea had 21 attempts at goal.
The most awful miss came from Fernando Torres, who inexplicably shot wide in front of an open goal in the 83rd minute, somehow managing to eclipse Rooney's own howler earlier when the United striker slipped while taking a penalty.
As Old Trafford erupted into a loud chuckle at Torres' misfortune, the beleaguered Spaniard fell to his knees unable to believe what had happened on a day where he had otherwise shown glimpses of his best and had netted his first goal of the season.
"Two of the best strikers missed crazy opportunities," Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas told a news conference. "It was a chaotic game."
United, which has won five games out of five, took just eight minutes to go ahead when Smalling headed in an Ashley Young freekick from the left but looked offside. It doubled the score when Nani conjured a chance out of nothing, netting a scorcher from 25 meters out on 37 minutes after an excellent ball across the pitch from Jonny Evans.
The winger celebrated with a cartwheel and from then on United was free-wheeling as Rooney added a third on the stroke of halftime after the ball fell kindly as United took its chances while the visitors did not.
Chelsea, which had missed gilt-edged opportunities through Brazilian Ramires and Torres, came out after the break knowing it needed to do something different and introduced forward Nicolas Anelka for midfielder Frank Lampard.
The substitution paid immediate dividends as the Frenchman put Torres through for a great finish with a flick of his foot as he notched just his second goal for the London club since his record 50 million pound (US$78.97 million) move in January.
Torres had several opportunities as he suggested he was looking more like the player who had sparkled in his Liverpool days and not just because he had ditched his brunette locks in favor of a return to blonde.
Just how he managed to put the ball several meters wide when he had done all the hard work to get through the United defense and past goalkeeper David De Gea will haunt him for some time as a chance he could have scored in his sleep.
Villas-Boas said he was delighted with the way his players had kept pushing after the "negative impact" of the halftime scoreline but it was counterpart Alex Ferguson who had the most to be happy about as United went two points clear at the top.
Elsewhere, Manchester City squandered a two-goal lead to drop its first points of the league season in a 2-2 draw at Fulham.
Roberto Mancini's side seemed set to make it five wins from five as two Sergio Aguero goals put it in charge at Craven Cottage but Fulham hit back through Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy.
City began the day level on 12 points with United.
Also, Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur cruised to a 4-0 victory over nine-man Liverpool and Sunderland routed Stoke City by the same scoreline.
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