37) Chelsea Fc - Manchester United

Thu, 10th May 2007 Both managers chose to give rest to players leant on heavily during the season for what proved to be a typical end-of-term affair. With far more bookings in the game than genuine goalscoring chances, this will be one of the lesser remembered Chelsea-Man United encounters in years to come. For the record, Chelsea, the more likely side to break the deadlock, were prevented from scoring at home for the first time since we played Liverpool in the Champions League group stage in December 2005. For Man United, the chance went begging to rub Chelsea noses in it by inflicting their first defeat at Stamford Bridge since José Mourinho took charge. The Chelsea manager decided to make it the rarest of occasions - a game with no Lampard in either the team or on the subs bench. Didier Drogba was again absent, as was Petr Cech. Of course for every player not included, a door opens for another and the big story was a first Chelsea start for 18-year-old Scott Sinclair, so impressive during his loan in the championship at Plymouth. He lined-up on the left of a front three that was spearheaded by Kalou with WrightPhillips on the right. For Man United there was no Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs, Ferdinand nor Van der Sar in the chosen 11, making the guard of honour that clapped on the likes of Kieran Lee, Chris Eagles and Fangzhuo Dong - a combined contribution of one sub appearance towards the Premiership win - a little on the surreal side. The first chance of the match came Chelsea's way, Mikel's lovely ball from left falling into the path of Wright-Phillips, nipping in front of Heinze to collect. Kuszczak, the Man United keeper for the night, closed quickly and blocked the shot. Wright-Phillips wasn't a million miles away with a cross hit off-balance that turned into a looping shot soon after. In fact he went very close, the keeper blowing out his cheeks as he watched the ball narrowly clear his crossbar. A previously low-key encounter then raised in temperature several degrees around the 20 minute mark, Mikel at the centre of the action. Fouled from behind by Smith, a direct opponent in midfield, Chelsea's young Nigerian seconds later took out Eagles with a late challenge as the right winger side-stepped the tackle.

Graham Poll's decision to punish Mikel with a yellow card alone prevented the heartbreak of suspension from the FA Cup Final. Certainly Heinze thought sanctions should have been more harsh and earned himself a booking telling the referee so. Man United's unfamiliar strike force of Solskjaer and Chinese player Fangzhuo Dong were making little impact on the Chelsea defence - to the extent that the visitors' best, and only real chance of the first-half, fell to Heinze. As Smith returned a Terry clearance with the aid of a deflection, the Argentine nipped between Mikel and Cudicini but blasted his first-time shot wide. Terry's half-hit volley after a free-kick was cleared in the one minute of stoppage time played at the end of the first-half but in truth, the game was reflecting the anti-climax that this once momentous-looking fixture had become. At half-time, Joe Cole came on for Mikel and within a minute won a free-kick down the left with rookie full-back Lee booked for the foul. Within a minute, Brown was late on Sinclair down the same wing to make it three out of the Man United back four whose names were in Poll's notebook. The balance was restored a little on 50 minutes as Diarra was cautioned for a trip from behind on Eagles. Sadly Sinclair's full debut ended on 53 minutes as he failed to shake off the affects of Brown's bruising foul. It did however mean another chance for Ben Sahar and the 17year-old was only a yard away from reaching a cross from the right as Brown headed away. The fractious start to the second period continued as Eagles, who just before had a shout for a penalty turned down when challenged by Essien, went studs-up past the ball and into Wright-Phillips. It was a nasty foul and like Mikel early on, the youngster must have had his heart in his mouth as Poll reached to produce a yellow. One of Chelsea's best, and swiftest moves of the night, saw Kalou, now on the left, find Cole who slipped the ball out to Wright-Phillips. Kuszczak was forced into an unconvincing save by the winger's shot. The keeper did far better to palm away Kalou's shot from the edge of the area after the Ivorian had turned Brown. A well-timed tackle by Fletcher disposed the same Chelsea player when he looked for a brief moment to have a clear run on the target after a pass from the prominent Wright-Phillips.

Then the dual between Chelsea and the Man U keeper continued as he dived full-length to keep out Diarra's 25 yard curler. Next Kuszczak made a mess of collecting a Cole corner and as Terry headed back ontarget, Richardson deflected a clearancee behind. From the next corner, Kalou's header was beaten out by the keeper, the ball ricocheting back off Kalou with Richardson again to the rescue! There was a brief altercation between ref and Chelsea manager after Mourinho had complained about another whistled-up challenge, all the vocal accompaniment of the Chelsea fans chanting 'The Graham Poll Show'. Even with Rooney on for the closing stages, the new champions still showed no hint of breaking down the excellent Essien and the back-to-his-best Terry. There was only one team going to win this at the death and it took a clearance off the line by Lee to keep out Sahar's prod as a corner reached the Israeli at the far post. The final whistle soon after brought an end to this sideshow on the way to Wembley. If consolation was being sought, Chelsea had preserved our proud unbeaten home league record stretching back more than three years. So now just Everton at home stands between Chelsea and a meeting with tonight's opponents again. You can bet your house on vastly different teams and a vastly different game. Chelsea(4-3-3): Cudicini; Ferreira, Essien, Terry (c), Bridge; Diarra (Morais 87), Makelele, Mikel (J Cole h-t); Wright-Phillips, Kalou, Sinclair (Sahar 53). Booked Mikel, Diarra, Essien. Man United (4-4-2): Kuszczak, Lee, Brown, O'Shea, Heinze (c) (Carrick 65); Eagles, Smith, Fletcher, Richardson; Dong (Rooney 72), Solskjaer. Booked Heinze, Lee, Brown, Eagles.