BLUES ROBBED OF FAMOUS WIN BY REFEREEING DEBACLE Robin van Persie scored a 94th minute equaliser to deny Chelsea a deserved victory at Old Trafford . The Blues dominated for much of the match and took the lead through a magnificent Didier Drogba header - only to be undone completely by an utterly diabolical refereeing performance by Phil Dowd. Firstly the Blues were denied an absolute stonewall penalty when both John Terry and Gary Cahill were wrestled to the ground in the same incident , before Branislav Ivanovic was incredulously shown a second yellow card when Angel di Maria dived to win the late free-kick from which United levelled. That decision summed up the refereeing injustice felt by Chelsea who had five players booked in addition to Ivanovics dismissal, though United players constantly went unpunished through sheer refereeing incompetence. And to add insult to injury, van Persie, already yellow-carded, wasnt shown a second yellow for removing his shirt during his celebration of a goal United, quite frankly, didnt deserve. Chelsea played with a measure of control throughout, very rarely looking vulnerable despite Thibaut Courtois being called into three point-blank saves from van Persie. The giant Belgian goalkeeper almost preserved his clean sheet right at the death when he denied compatriot Marouane Fellaini, but the depleted, disorganised Chelsea defence failed to clear di Marias free-kick, allowing van Persie to smash the rebound home. Ultimately it is Chelseas fault for again failing to kill off a big team, much like their bottle-job showing at Manchester City back in September, but the way they were robbed of their deserved rewards here makes this result as difficult a pill to swallow as Frank Lampards late leveller on their last journey to Manchester. The point does at least increase Chelseas lead over defending champions City to six points,and their lead over second-placed Southampton remains a healthy gap of four, but the two dropped here makes this feel more akin to a heavy defeat than anything else. United rarely threatened despite retaining possession of the ball well deep in Chelseas half, and though their shot tally of 19 suggests they posed a constant menace to the outstanding Courtois, the Belgian was rarely forced to excel himself, as even van Persies numerous attempts when one-on-one were poorly executed. The late goal would have been irrelevant had Dowd awarded the Blues the most blatant of penalties in the first half, with the referee instead choosing to ignore Marcos Rojos shirt-pull on John Terry and Chris Smalling getting Ivanovic in a head-lock at the far post. Chelsea frustrated in the first half but came into their own after the interval, and moments after Eden Hazard had produced a fine save from David de Gea, the Spanish goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his own net after Drogbas beautifully directed front post header. United were kept in the game through a combination of Jose Mourinhos lack of desire to commit too many men to the attack and trigger-happy Dowds careless card-waving,and van Persies equaliser looked somewhat inevitable with every joke of a decision delivered by the official. Ivanovics dismissal - brought about through di Marias theatrics - added insult to injury as Dowd managed to spot a supposed trip from 40 yards away, but not the Blues earlier penalty appeal when stood at the edge of the box. On a more positive note, the Blues remain unbeaten and top of the Premier League. The only regret is, again, just like last season, points have been thrown away from a winning position. Shrewsbury Town in the Capital One Cup represents Chelseas next assignment, but they will only have one day to recover from this debacle ahead of that fixture. Credits:-TalkChelsea.net
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 18:49:14 +0000
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