The Guardian-
For the seventh time in a row, Chelsea win by a single goal. For the fourth consecutive match, they didn’t play particularly well but did enough to grind out the result – it may not be particularly pretty, but they won’t care.
A moment of class from Oscar and Eden Hazard was enough to win them all three points. They need six more to win the league and have six matches in which to get them. It’s all over and their players know it. They’re celebrating as if they’ve won the league already. This was a big win for them and they handled Manchester Unitedadmirably.
90+5 min: Ander Herrera gets booked for diving after throwing himself over a “challenge” from Gary Cahill, while sticking his own leg in an attempt to hook it around the Chelsea defender’s leg. Some genuine class from players on both teams in the past couple of minutes.
90+4 min: Didier Drogba goes down hurt in a bid to waste a few more seconds. Mike Dean ignores him.
90+3 min: Chelsea substitution: Eden Hazard off, Willian on. By an amazing coincidence, he also has to walk from the far side of the field. Referee Mike Dean urges him to “jog”.
90+2 min: Chelsea substitution: Cesc Fabregas off and he makes the long walk from the far touchline. John Obi Mikel on. Chelsea have Willian ready to come on, but they’ll bide their time to make that if there’s another stoppage.
90 min: Eden Hazard goes to ground under a challenge from Chrius Smalling. Free-kick for Chelsea, just inside the United half.
89 min: Sky co-commentator Gary Neville anoints the forehead of Eden Hazard with his Barclay’s man of the match ointment. It’s the obvious choice, although I was impressed with the efforts of Luke Shaw too.
87 min: United plug on, rolling their metaphorical boulder up the metaphorical Stamford Bridge hill. Can they nick a point? Falcao tries an effort from long range, but John Terry throws himself in front of the ball, taking one for the team.
86 min: Chelsea win a free-kick wide on the right, which Fabregas curls into the United penalty area. Aiming for Drogba at the far post, his delivery is headed clear by Fellaini.
85 min: Radamel Falcao is flagged for offside after getting between John Terry and Gary Cahill to latch on to a wonderful pass from Angel Di Maria.
83 min: Finally, one player picks out another with a corner kick. I think it was Di Maria who took it, finding Wayne Rooney on the edge of the six yard box. The United skipper couldn’t keep his header down and sends it over the bar.
81 min: Valencia plays the ball to Fellaini with his back to goal on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area. He lays it off to Rooney, who plays it wide to Di Maria. Probe. Probe. Probe. Probe. Nothing. Barring a moment or two of genius, you get the impression that Chelsea will comfortably defend against this all night if they have to. Thibaut Courtois hasn’t had to make a save that I can remember in this second half. He wasn’t kept too busy in the first 45 minutes either.
79 min: Manchester United substitution: Tyler Blackett on for Luke Shaw, who has played very well but is still recovering from hamstring issues.
77 min: From the left flank, Shaw plays the ball into Di Maria who’d made a run into the left side of the Chelsea penalty area. He proceeds to run down a blind alley, where he is mugged by Nemanja Matic, among others. Di Maria goes to ground, but neither appeals for a spot-kick nor gets one.
75 min: With Chelsea defending deep and Manchester United’s fresh injection of pace on either flank, Manchester United are looking a lot more lively, but still not troubling Courtois. Falcao shoots wide of the upright from a tight angle after being played into the Rizla-sized rectangle of space behind Chelsea’s defence.
73 min: Good lord. You’ll remember my little rant about the risible efforts of various players when it comes to taking corners and free-kicks. Now Branislav Ivanovic gets penalised for a foul throw. A foul throw!
71 min: From about 10 yards out, Falcao gets on the end of a cross from the right and makes good contact, only for Gary Cahill to stick out a foot and divert the ball from its trajectory towards the near post.
69 min: Manchester United double substitution: Juan Mata and Ashley Young off, Adnan Januzaj and Angel Di Maria on. Januzaj takes up position on the right flank, while his team-mate goes on the left, where Angels generally fear to tread.
68 min: Chelsea substitution: Oscar off, Ramires on. Jose is on lockdown.
67 min: Falcao takes his turn to try a shot from long range. Wide, from 25 metres or so.
65 min: Ashley Young takes the corner, standing for an eternity before doing so with both hands in the air. Apparently this is the signal for: out-swinger tothe edge of the penalty area, where no player from either side is standing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the quality of dead-ball delivery in this match has been appalling. It’s truly astonishing how bad these highly trained top flight professionals are at taking corners and free-kicks.
63 min: Shaw clips the ball across the Chelsea penalty area to Fellaini, who traps it on his velcro chest and lays it off to Wayne Rooney. His low drive from the edge of the penalty area is deflected out for a corner.
62 min: Oscar gets booked for a late tackle on Ander Herrera.
60 min: Paddy McNair tries his luck with another long range effort that dips in the air and brings a smart save out of Courtois. The ball doesn’t break kindly for Falcao, but finds its way to Luke Shaw, who picks out Juan Mata. He heads wide.
59 min: Almost at the hour mark and Manchester United have yet to create a chance of note in this second half. They’re pressing and probing, but Chelsea are back in numbers, much as you’d expect.
57 min: Ivanovic gets booked for a foul on Luke Shaw. He joins Didier Drogba in the referee’s notebook. He had his name taken for a foul on Paddy McNair shortly before nearly-but-not-quite-scoring.
54 min: With Chelsea on another counter-attack after Ander Herrera gave away the ball just inside the Chelsea half, the ball is played long towards Didier Drogba. He just about manages to beat Paddy McNair to the bouncing ball and tries to lift it over De Gea and into the goal, with Chris Smalling charging back to try to put him off. The ball loops over De Gea, but bounces just short of the foot of the far upright. Up in support, Hazard attempts to karate kick it into the gaping goal, but can only hit the cross-bar. That goal was gaping.Gaping.
52 min: Eden Hazard isn’t demonstrating much of it, mind. He’s the stand-out player on the pitch by a considerable margin. He gallops forward and picks out Cesc Fabregas with a wonderful pass. The Spaniard wins a corner, from which nothing comes.
49 min: Attempting to make a run into space, Antonio Valencia runs straight into Didier Drogba’s back, bounces off him and falls over holding his face. Didier Drogba turns around and gives him a hand up. This is bordering on comical, such is some of the ineptitude on show.
48 min: Oscar tackles Luke Shaw to concede a Manchester United throw-in deep in Chelsea territory. Seconds later, Eden Hazard is galloping up the field on a counter-attack. Nothing comes of it. Less than inspirational, this.
48 min: Valencia gets on the ball on the right flank, plays it inside and continues his run into the Chelsea half. The hosts regain possession courtesy of Juan Mata.
46 min: Scrappy stuff in the opening stages of the second half. Smalling launches the ball forward, straight into the arms of Thibaut Courtois.
Chelsea v Man Utd – second half is under way
Chelsea do the honours, with no changes on either side. They lead 1-0 and are 45 minutes away from being just two wins from the title.
Half-time housekeeping …
- David De Gea almost certainly handled the ball outside his penalty area in the first half, but the linesman was unsighted
- John Terry almost certainly fouled Radamel Falcao when winning possession in the build-up to Chelsea’s goal, but no free-kick was awarded.
- Oscar’s backheel to Hazard in the build-up to the Chelsea goal was a thing of great beauty.
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United
Without playing particularly well, Chelsea adjourn to the dressing room behind on possession stats, but leading with the only stat that matters. Their players will be delighted, Manchester United’s seething but confident of turning things around in the second half. Eden Hazard has given the hosts the lead with the kind of finish we’ve come to expect him to score in his sleep.
45 min: Manchester United win a corner, their first on the right, I think. Juan Mata floats the ball into the area, where Courtois grabs it under little or no pressure.
42 min: It’s getting tasty between John Terry and Radamel Falcao. Showing the kind of macho spirit that was conspicuously absent in the build-up to the goal, Falcao shoves the Chelsea at a throw-in, knocking him to the ground. Seconds later, Terry returns the favour with interest, clattering into the Colombian’s back to win a high ball. Falcao complains to the referee, who tells him to get on with the game.
40 min: That was a splendid goal by Chelsea, which originated when Radamel Falcao meekly allowed himself to be dispossessed by John Terry. He gave the ball to Fabregas, who played it forward to Oscar, whereupon the Brazilian played the ball through the inside-left to Hazard with a wonderful backheel.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Hazard 38)
Nuts! Eden Hazard slots a diagonal shot through David De Gea’s legs and into the back of the net after being played in behind the United defence to latch on to a beautifully weighted pass from Oscar.
36 min: With Chelsea on a counter-attack, David De Gea charges towards the edge of his penalty area to intercept a long ball from Fabregas to Hazard. He handles the ball outside his area, but no free-kick for Chelsea is forthcoming.
35 min: Manchester United win a free-kick about 40 metres from the Chelsea goal. Ashley Young attempts to send the ball into the mixer, but fails to clear the first man. [Minute-by-minute reporter throws his hands in the air in frustration].
33 min: With his back to goal on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, Ashley Young expertly kills a pass sent whizzing his way from midfield and plays it wide to Luke shaw on the touchline. The cross comes in and Chelsea clear.
31 min: Ander Herrera gets fouled by Didier Drogba just outside his own penalty area and goes down screaming in agony. Incredibly, he’s perfectly fit to continue 30 seconds or so later, after the pair exchange a hadshake and Mike Dean gives the Ivorian a ticking-off.
29 min: Chelsea win a free-kick about 35 metres from the United goal, a little left of centre. Falcao it was, with the foul on Hazard. Drogba steps up and shoots … straight into the defensive wall. It seems nobody here can strike a dead ball with anything resembling expertise today.
25 min: Chelsea’s back four are sitting back like a team of non-league minnows attempting to protect a 1-0 lead against a Premier Leagueside in the dying seconds of an FA Cup match. They’re giving Manchester United acres of space to run at them, but United are failing to string anything in the way of decent passing moves or crosses together.
24 min: United win another corner, which goes the way of all their previous corners: Mata tries to find Fellaini but doesn’t, then Chelsea clear. Referee Mike Dean had spotted an infringement anyway and blows for a Chelsea free-kick. It’s not like he’s an inconspicuous target …
23 min: Deep in United territory on the inside left, Hazard plays the ball back to Cesc Fabregas on the edge of the penalty area. He plays a return pass by way of a beutifully weighted through ball, but Hazard’s first touch lets him down. Turns out he was offside anyway.
21 min: Fellaini squares the ball a few yards into Rooney from the left touchline and the Manchester United captain sends a cross-field pass towards Ander Herrera. There’s too much welly on it, but he gets a thumbs-up from the intended recipient anyway.
20 min: On Sky Sports, co-commentator Gary Neville says that Chelsea’s shape is “all wrong”. Oscar is “too narrow”, apparently, while Fabregas has moved out to the right and Hazard is now playing just behind Drogba. Their midfield is being completely over-run, where Matic and Zouma are struggling to get on the ball.
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17 min: Corner for Manchester United, which Mata takes again. Once again, he fails to pick out Fellaini and Eden Hazard clears for the home side.
16 min: With Rooney and Herrera exchanging passes in the centre of midfield, Fellaini takes up possession on the left touchline. The ball doesn’t come his way and Chelsea end up winning a free-kick just outside their own penalty area.
15 min: United continue to dominate possession, but aren’t creating much in the way of chances. A few shots from long distance have been the sum total of their efforts so far. None of them have been on target.
13 min: That was pretty impressive from Paddy McNair, who picked up the ball on halfway and beat three or four players before having his pop from outside the area. It wasn’t too wide of its intended target.
12 min: A speculative Paddy McNair shot from about 25 metres earns Manchester United a corner after taking a slight deflection off John Terry. Eden Hazard sends the ball towards Fellaini’s head, but Chelsea clear.
11 min: Ander Herrera tries his luck from a long way out after Shaw and Young had combined down the left. He drags a feeble shot wide, when perhaps he should have picked out Juan Mata, who’d made a nice run.
8 min: Holding Young off the ball down by the corner flag and repeatedly calling for a goal-kick, Ivanovic is frustrated that he doesn’t get one, because the whole of the ball hasn’t crossed the line. Showing no little agility, he turns and hoofs it upfield in one fluid(ish) movement.
7 min: Chelsea advance, with Eden Hazard on the ball on the inside left flank. Hazard picks out a Cesc Fabregas into the Manchester United penalty area, but from a tight angle, he’s unable to get the ball across the box. De Gea sticks out a foot to block his attempted cross.
5 min: You’d have put the farm on Rooney scoring from that chance. He was unmarked in acres of space when he picked up Shaw’s fine pass and had plenty of time to pick his spot.
3 min: Luke Shaw gallops down the touchline on the overlap, picks up a pass from Ashley Young and leaves Branislav Ivanovic in his dust. Cutting in along the byline, he pulls the ball back to Wayne Rooney on the edge of the penalty area. He shoots and hits one of the poles holding up the back of the net. I thought he’d scored and so did David de Gea and the supporters behind his goal, who were all celebrating wildly. Wide, but not by much.
2 min: Kurt Zouma robs Marouane Fellaine of the ball wide on the right halfway inside the Chelsea half and passes the ball back to his goalkeeper. Fellaini claims he was fouled, but no free-kick is forthcoming.
Chelsea v Manchester United is under way
1 min: We’re off. Manchester United get the ball rolling. Rooney and Herrera are playing alongside each other deep in United’s midfield. Chris Smalling is playing as their right centre-back, while McNair is on the left.