Man Utd 1 Chelsea 1 A.E.T Man Utd Win 6-5 On Penalties
Manchester United won their third 3rd European cup after a dramatic match against Chelsea after 120 minutes of football couldn’t separate the premiership champions & runners up.It was a topsy turvy match were Man Utd dominated the first half & Chelsea the second & even in extra time it seemed to go one way & then the other.It just showed why these are the best 2 teams in the premiership & Europe & worthy of a European cup final & it was one to watch live.
The game kicked off at 10:45 Moscow time which is rather late for a football match but it was more like for live tele.Both team’s tried to get a foot hold on the game straight away & the first 20 Min’s was a hustle & bustle type of game with no really clear cut chances but for a big European final you would expect that.But after the 20 Min both teams had sort each other out & it came to life with a tackle & some blood.
It was a ball in the air & Paul Scholes & Claude Makelele both went for it & had a almighty collision & both players went down in a heap.It left Scholes with a bloody nose but both players got booked for that but Man Utd started to get the football down & play.For some reason Essen was playing right back & it must have lit Ronaldo’s eyes up & he was giving him a really bad time & it was Ronaldo who used that to give Man Utd the lead in this football match.
It was lovely play by United & the ball came out to Wes Brown & he had plenty of time to put in a cross with reached Ronaldo who had got away of Essen & found space to head it into the goal & out of the reach of Cech.But Chelsea nearly found there way back in really strange circumstance it was a Lampard’s cross into the box that Drogba happen to force it in & Rio Ferdinand headed it towards his own goal only for Van Der Sar to somehow dig it away from his goal.
But with 10 Min’s left of the first half United should have really bin 3 up when they had three great chances.The first 2 were Man United at there best Rooney got the ball after a Chelsea corner was cleared he delivered a fantastic cross pitch pass that found Ronaldo who beat Essen & put in a cross that Tevez headed towards goal but Cech made a brilliant save but the clearance went straight to Carrack who shot was on target But Cech made a one handed save .They should have scored moments later when Rooney got the ball down the right crossed along the floor into the box which was missed by Makelele & somehow Tevez missed sliding it into the box when he should of scored maybe.
But United were made to pay the price for missing there chances & Chelsea struck back to equalise it was fortunate but you have to take your chances.It was Essen who pick the ball up in midfield & ran towards the United defence & had a shot which didn’t really look much but it happen to deflect off Vidic then deflected off Ferdinand & fell right in Lampard’s path & he slotted it home into the net.He went off to celebrate raising his arms in the air & thanking his mum & dedicating his goal to her & that was the end of the first half. Alex Ferguson
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Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2 AET (4-3)Agg
Wow what a football match this was.One minute it looked like Chelsea then the next Liverpool it was a match that was played in 4 halves of pure live soccer where both teams gave it there all.Both sides had made changes for the match Chelsea had Essien returning from a ban & Kalou for Malouda while Liverpool had Riise for Aurelia & Benayoun for Babel.It was the home side that started the better which saw Drogba take the first shot from 25 yards which skidded across the surface & made Reina save.Liverpool looked like they were letting Chelsea come on to them & when they could get the ball to Torres & let him do something special in nearly worked when Gerrard slipped a well timed pass which Torres got on the end of but Cech was there to save from 6 yards this was the best it got for Liverpool & Chelsea dominated the play & the football.Drogba who was my man of the match played a blinder & should have scored when he was put through by Lampard only to shot wide.Skrtel then had to go off with a knee injury which unsettled Liverpool a bit & Drogba then made up for his miss as Kalou was sent through by Lampard shot brought out a save from Reina which Drogba ran on to & smashed it past Reina into the bottom left hand corner.Watching it live it looked like Kalou was off side but on the Tv Replay you could see he was level.Just before half time it was nearly two for chelsea as Ballack sent a free kick just wide of the post which breathed a sigh of relief from Liverpool to be only one down at the break. Rafa Benitez
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Manchester United 1 Barcelona 0 (1-0)Agg
It will be an all English final in the champions league this year as Man United defeated Barcelona to make the final.Its there first final for 9 years & the scorer Scholes has a chance to make up for the one he missed in 1999 when he was suspended.The game started bad for United as Rooney & Vidic were ruled out just before kick off with hip & concussion injury’s.The it nearly got worse & Messi ran through into the penalty box & Scholes tripped him but the German ref only gave a free kick out side the area & by TV replay’s it was the right descistion but only just as watching it live it looked a penalty.Barcelona were playing the good football that took United time to settle but Scholes popped up & scored with a fantastic 25 yards shot which was rising into the top of the goal & past the diving Valdes this was only his 2nd goal this season but one of his most important of his career.Messi was really the only threat for Barcelona as he tried to get them back into the game with a left foot shot which Van Der Sar had to save.Ji-Sung had a chance for United before barcelona started to dominate Deco went close twice & they kept pushing but it was United who should have got the second goal & could have killed the game when Nani missed a golden chance when he glanced a cross wide of the goal from only 8 yards out. Frank Rijkaard
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Barcelona 0 Man Utd 0
It could have bin better for Man Utd but still held Barcelona to a draw after Ronaldo’s penalty miss in this cagey champions league semi-final.It only took Man Utd 2 Min’s when a cross into the box was meet by Ronaldo’s head which then went onto hit Gabriel Milito moving raised arm.The ref pointed to the spot straight away so up stepped Ronaldo who placed the ball to the right sending the keeper the wrong way but the ball hit the post & went to safety.Barcelona then took the game to Man Utd by their slick & probing passing by couldn’t really make any creative progress in the final third as the Man Utd defence held firm.United tried to attack but Barcelona play a lot with the ball & made United also have to play defensive football were Ronaldo & Rooney didn’t really get to be any force.Ronaldo did have another penalty shout turned down minutes later when he ran on to a bad pass made by Iniesta & was through on goal but Rafel Marquez got his body in the way to get the ball back to Valdes but on the tv replay it looked more like a barge which bundled Ronaldo in the penalty box.It took Samuel Eto’o just before half time to get his first chance after beating Rio Ferdinand on his inside but it was charged down by Wes Brown. Read more
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Chelsea have a clear advantage going into the second leg of this semi-final tie after Riise’s own goal deep into injury time.This was a fantastic match which saw Chelsea give a start to Florent Malouda & Liverpool Alvaro Arbeloa.Both teams started slow & was watching each others moves while Chelsea had all the nice & slick passing it was Liverpool had the better chances.It took Liverpool 7 Min’s to get there first when Steven Gerrard shot straight at Peter Cech then Dirk Kuyt was to blame when his poor ball control let him down when Alonso put him through & Cech was able to clear. Joe Cole was them put through & in the clear but he didn’t know he was in acres of space & wasted it.Chelsea then had penalty appeals turned down when Drogba was brought down by Carragher who went up field only for Cech to make a brilliant save from Torres. But it took a mix up & defensive errors to give Liverpool the lead.Alonso was alert & took a quick free kick which Lampard couldn’t get clear & Mascherano then miss-kicked & Kyut ran it & put the ball past Peter Cech& the half ended with Liverpool in front Read more
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