Focus stays on football this time

Both sides were on their best behaviour for a Halloween shootout at Stamford Bridge writes RICHARD WILLIAMS

WHO SAYS football fans have no sense of humour? Were he watching last night’s match at the ground where he got into such hot water in Sunday’s Premier League version of this contest, England’s most controversial football official would have enjoyed the sight of the red and white banner unfurled by Manchester United’s fans in the first tier of the old Shed end: “CLATTENBURG: REFEREE, LEADER, LEGEND.”

Diagonally opposite it on the north-west corner of the Matthew Harding Stand, the blue and white original version retained its traditional position: “JT CAPTAIN, LEADER, LEGEND.”

Absent from this fixture, John Terry was nevertheless present in the minds of the visiting supporters. “Where’s your racist centre-half?” they sang to their hosts after the announcement of the line-ups.

Nor did the wit end there. Seven minutes into the match Victor Moses directed a raking cross into the path of Daniel Sturridge, who found space behind United’s two novice centre-backs but with his first touch, 15 yards from goal, tripped over the ball. “Are you,” he was asked, “Torres in disguise?”

After the rancorous atmosphere that overtook Sunday’s match, it was good to hear some humour at the Bridge, even if it was all one way. Chelsea had nothing to laugh about after the failure of Mark Clattenburg and his officials to chalk off Javier Hernandez’s winning goal sent them to a league defeat at home against United for the first time in 10 years.

They were even less inclined to smile when Ryan Giggs gave United the lead in the 22nd minute after a hideous misunderstanding between Petr Cech and Oriol Romeu.

When both their defensive midfielders, Romeu and Mikel John Obi, were shown yellow cards either side of the opening goal, they might even have harboured the suspicion that Lee Mason, the referee, had not taken kindly to the club’s complaint against his colleague 72 hours earlier. On the half-hour, however, Mason’s award of a penalty to the home side for Alexander Buttner’s foul on Moses allowed David Luiz to level the score and repair the mood of the home supporters, albeit only temporarily.

But the foundation of their defence will be giving them cause for concern. After the embarrassing gaffe that led to United’s opening goal, Luiz put his team in trouble two minutes before the interval when his ramble upfield ended when he lost possession inside the United half. The ball broke to Anderson, whose sharp pass allowed Hernandez to bisect Mikel and Cesar Azpilicueta before guiding a confident shot past Cech.

Once again it was United’s fans who were enjoying this Hallowe’en party, and they had something more to relish when Alex Ferguson introduced Nick Powell at the start of the second half, having withdrawn Buttner, switched Rafael to left-back and moved Darren Fletcher to right-back.

With his first touch, the tall 18-year-old from Crewe accepted Nani’s square pass just outside the penalty area and hit a low, swerving shot that Cech managed to touch around the post.

In terms of quality, this encounter was perhaps below the standard set by the first hour on Sunday, which was about as exhilarating and absorbing as 60 minutes of English football gets.

The glut of goals rather than the play itself gave the match its dynamic, and there was another to cheer the home supporters early in the second half when Gary Cahill headed home direct from a corner, with Rafael making his attempted clearance from two feet behind the goal line.

It was with a fine goal that United regained the lead, Hernandez bursting down the left, cutting back inside and feeding Nani, who exchanged passes with Anderson before taking a touch and producing the most delicate of chips to leave Cech helpless.

“We want Clattenburg,” United fans sang, anxious to preserve another 3-2 scoreline, in vain as it transpired as Luiz’s late penalty ensured more drama and extra-time. Wootton’s mistake gifted Daniel Sturridge the chance to make it 4-3 and Hazard’s superb skill set up Ramires for the fifth before Giggs’ penalty ended the goal-fest

Guardian Service