Realm: Chelsea 2 Manchester United 1 -- 01.03.2011

Second half salvo sinks United

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David Luiz celebrates with Didier Drogba after netting the leveller

Scoring Summary

Chelsea	Manchester United
David Luiz (54')	Wayne Rooney (29')
Frank Lampard (pen 79')

21(8)	Shots (on Goal)	10(2)
10	Fouls	14
10	Corner Kicks	2
1	Offsides	2
45%	Time of Possession	55%
3	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	1
1	Saves	6

Teams

Chelsea	Manchester United
1 Petr Cech	1 Edwin van der Sar
4 David Luiz	15 Nemanja Vidic
26 John Terry	12 Chris Smalling
3 Ashley Cole	3 Patrice Evra
2 Branislav Ivanovic	22 John O'Shea
8 Frank Lampard	16 Michael Carrick
5 Michael Essien	18 Paul Scholes
15 Florent Malouda	17 Nani
7 Ramires	24 Darren Fletcher
9 Fernando Torres	14 Javier Hernández
39 Nicolas Anelka	10 Wayne Rooney
Substitutes
11 Didier Drogba	Ryan Giggs 11
22 Ross Turnbull	Wes Brown 6
21 Salomon Kalou	Dimitar Berbatov 9
18 Yuri Zhirkov	Tomasz Kuszczak 29
17 José Bosingwa	Rafael 21
12 John Mikel Obi	Darron Gibson 28
46 Joshua McEachran	Fabio 20
Substitutions
Didier Drogba for Nicolas Anelka (61)	Dimitar Berbatov for Javier Hernández (70)
Yuri Zhirkov for Florent Malouda (71)	Ryan Giggs for Paul Scholes(70)
José Bosingwa for David Luiz(81)	Fabio for Patrice Evra (81)
Yellow Cards
Ramires (13)	Nemanja Vidic (45)
David Luiz (61)	Ryan Giggs (90)
Michael Essien (74)
Red Cards
	Nemanja Vidic (90)
· Squads: Chelsea \| Manchester United

Champions Chelsea dragged themselves away from the Premier League abyss as David Luiz and Frank Lampard struck to complete a memorable comeback win over Manchester United.

To make matters worse for the leaders, they had skipper Nemanja Vidic sent off for a second bookable offence in stoppage time - meaning he will miss Sunday's trip to Liverpool.

Trailing to Wayne Rooney's fifth goal in as many league games at the break, Chelsea levelled a thrilling encounter when Luiz volleyed home his first goal since a £25million transfer window move from Benfica.

And when Yuri Zhirkov went down under Chris Smalling's challenge in the box 12 minutes from time, Lampard strode up to extended an unbeaten home record against their visitors dating back to 2002.

More importantly, it cut United's advantage over Chelsea - who have a game in hand - to 12 points and open up the possibility of Arsenal closing to within a point if they win their oustanding game against Tottenham.

The annoyance for Sir Alex Ferguson would have been that Luiz appeared fortunate not to have been sent off for tripping Rooney moments before Lampard's winner, having already been booked.

Yet, that was only poetic justice given even the United boss felt his star striker was fortunate not to be banned for his attack on James McCarthy at the DW Stadium on Saturday.

Until he found the net, the 25-year-old's notable involvement of a sustained purple patch for the visitors was to fluff a free header on the edge of the six-yard box.

Then he made the breakthrough. Allowed to creep away from the Chelsea defensive line by John Terry and the otherwise excellent Luiz, Rooney collected Nani's pass with his back to goal and spun round quickly.

Branislav Ivanovic recognised the danger but was powerless to do anything about it as Rooney took aim from 25 yards and beat Petr Cech with a ferocious shot that flew into the bottom corner.

At that stage, United deserved their lead.

Although Chelsea had plenty of possession and Ashley Cole was sarcastically urged to ''shoot'' by the visiting supporters, Florent Malouda had failed to capitalise on their one opening of note when he drilled a shot from Nicolas Anelka's cross straight at Van der Sar.

The Dutchman's moment of the season was still to come. And it will be talked about long after his retirement at the end of the season.

When he had only been able to push Frank Lampard's long-range free-kick towards Ivanovic, the equaliser looked certain. In fairness to the Serb, the ball did not come towards him at the right height, so he could only bundle the ball rather than strike it.

Still, it was heading over the line until Van der Sar despairingly flung out an arm and somehow managed to push the ball upwards, changing its trajectory so it struck Vidic, who was scrambling back on the line.

Van der Sar then completed mission impossible by clawing the ball away from goal, and dangerous Chelsea feet, so Darren Fletcher could hammer it to safety.

Luiz has thus far proved to be the most astute signing of Chelsea's £75million January purchases, combining solid defensive work with typical South American ability on the ball.

Clearly, he can strike a ball pretty well too as he proved when lashing home a 10-yard volley, from Michael Essien's cross.

Chances came and went with breathtaking regularity at either end. Lampard and substitute Didier Drogba for Chelsea. Rooney for United, drawing frustrated cries from Gary Neville, who was wedged amongst the visiting supporters, cheering for the club he has always loved.

Neville would have presumably taken a pretty dim view of Luiz's blatant trip on Rooney, which would surely have brought a red card had it been spotted by referee Martin Atkinson.

The Yorkshireman missed it, but not Chris Smalling blocking off Yuri Zhirkov at the other end moments later, allowing Lampard to smash home his penalty.

Zhirkov came agonisingly close to grabbing a third goal when his fierce shot struck Vidic and crashed against the post.

Vidic's evening was to end on a sour note though as suddenly United look vulnerable ahead of their Anfield trip.

MATCH SUMMARY

Man of the match: David Luiz:Chelsea's £21m signing from Benfica is already looking like a bargain after another towering display alongside John Terry at the back. Luiz has showed no signs of needing time to settle into the Premier League with a brilliant defensive display and, of course, a beautifully executed first Chelsea goal. He was lucky to stay on the pitch after a trip on Rooney but, on this evidence, the classy Brazilian defender will be an ever-present for the Blues for years to come.

Chelsea verdict: After an abysmal first half during which Chelsea were run ragged by a fluid and energetic United, the champions showed the tenacity to fight back with the kind of gritty display Carlo Ancelotti would have demanded at half time. While the title remains a long way off, Chelsea's win has reignited their hopes of claiming that all-important fourth-place and sends out a signal that despite their poor season, they can't be written off just yet.

Manchester United verdict: After a blistering first half that saw Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Nani rip Chelsea to shreds, their willingness to sit back and let Chelsea attack them in the second half was their undoing. The tireless running of Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick allowed Paul Scholes the time to dictate the play in the first half. But United's midfield dominance - and the threat of Nani - receded as the game went on and now their grip on the Premier League trophy has been ever-so-slightly loosened.

Could do better: Javier Hernandez. While Hernandez warranted his place in the starting line-up, having proved his undoubted natural ability in previous games, the Mexican was bullied out of this one by Terry and Luiz. Hernandez struggled to see enough of the ball to have any telling contribution on the game and was largely anonymous until his eventual substitution in this heavyweight fixture.

Stat Attack: Manchester United have won none and lost six of their last nine matches at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

Match Stats

Chelsea Shots