Chelsea v Manchester United – First half review: UEFA Champions League - Part 1
The English clubs resumed their UEFA Champions League adventure on 6th of April, 2011 as Manchester United visited Chelsea at Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal matchup. Both teams set out with attacking formations,
as Carlo Ancelotti and Sir Alex Ferguson went with 4-4-2 as the order of the day. Manchester United’s two strikers included the likes of Javier Hernandez and Wayne Rooney.
In the visiting side’s midfield, Ryan Giggs was deployed in a central midfield role alongside Michael Carrick, whereas Park Ji Sung started ahead of Luis Nani on the left hand side of Manchester United’s midfield. At the back, Rafael da Silva began the match
as the Red Devils’ right back alongside Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in central defence. Patrice Evra also started for Sir Alex Ferguson’s team at his usual left back spot.
Chelsea’s starting eleven included Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba in attack, as Nicolas Anelka was left on the bench by Carlo Ancelotti. In midfield, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien patrolled the center of the park, whilst Yuri Zhirkov started instead
of Florent Malouda on the left hand side. Ramirez also featured for the Blues but as a right sided shuttler. At the back, Chelsea used Branislav Ivanovic as their center back alongside John Terry. Jose Bosingwa and Ashley Cole started for the home side as
their traditional wing backs.
The first half kicked off at pedestrian pace at first as both teams understandably grappled with their nerves. Both the midfield units of Chelsea and Manchester United were wayward with their passing for the first 15 minutes of the encounter, but soon Chelsea
emerged as the superior team with the home support behind their back.
The Blues retained the ball in the center of the park with much more dominance than their opponents, and created their first goal scoring chance in the 19th minute as Didier Drogba tested Edwin Van der Sar’s reflexes from inside the Manchester
United penalty area.
The Dutch shot stopper did well to get a hand on the ball as the referee signaled for a Chelsea corner kick. Frank Lampard stepped up to take the corner kick for the home side but Manchester United cleared it with authority as Luis Antonio Valencia was fouled
in the follow-up play by Yuri Zhirkov. The referee’s decision was jeered by the home crowd but the match official held his own and resisted the urge to book the Russian winger.