Actions speak louder than words

United have eyes on Premier prize
Manchester United 3, Chelsea 0

MANCHESTER United did their talking on the pitch yesterday.

After Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez’s much-publicised rant at Sir Alex Ferguson 48 hours earlier, United responded with a display full of quality.

Forget about mind games, this emphatic defeat of Premier League title rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford sent out a massive statement of their intent to clinch a hat-trick of championships.

They produced a terrific second-half performance to inflict the Blues’ heaviest league defeat for almost three years, which also sent out a chilling reminder to leaders Liverpool that they won’t give up their crown without a fight.

With Liverpool playing next Monday night, United will go top if they beat Wigan on Wednesday and Bolton on Saturday.

But quite what damage this defeat does to Chelsea’s title hopes remains to be seen. They looked a bedraggled and dispirited outfit at full-time and, on current form, they are a shadow of the formidable force they were under Jose Mourinho.

Ironically the former Chelsea chief was in the directors’ box at Old Trafford on a spying mission for Inter Milan’s Champions League last 16 opponents.

Mourinho must have been impressed by the Reds while mystified by the decline of his former side.

Could it be that cracks are beginning to appear in the Chelsea empire of Roman Abramovich as clearly all is not well at Stamford Bridge?

This weekend could well prove a defining moment in the title race after Liverpool were held at lowly Stoke.

United are traditionally stronger in the second half of the campaign and they have certainly kicked off 2009 in style.

It was a terrific team display from back to front as they kept an incredible eighth successive clean sheet in the league while displaying the cutting edge in the final third which they have lacked on occasions before this season.

The absence of Rio Ferdinand for a fifth consecutive game with a back problem has hardly been felt, with stand-in Jonny Evans looking as though he has been a fixture in the side for many a year.

Ferguson’s masterstroke was playing Ryan Giggs in the centre of midfield ahead of Michael Carrick, Anderson and Paul Scholes, who all warmed the bench.

The 35-year-old, who has hinted he may soon retire, ran the show and was rightly named man-of-the-match. He remained cool and composed in the heat of battle. It was blood and thunder and at times it threatened to erupt into warfare.

What was pleasing for Ferguson was that both his strikers, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov found the net, though it was Nemanja Vidic who broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.

A pretty nondescript opening period had a dramatic finish, with United first having a goal controversially ruled out.

Chelsea were completely flummoxed when Rooney took a quick corner by rolling the ball a couple of feet out of the ‘D’ and then running away. Giggs then strolled over as if he was about to take the corner, but the Welshman made a dash towards goal and sent over a cross which Cristiano Ronaldo converted with a near-post header.

The referee’s assistant was clearly bemused by the move which had been perfected on the training ground and flagged for it to be retaken to the horror of Rooney and Giggs, who raced over to the official to protest that the corner was valid.

Referee Howard Webb ordered a retake and justice was done as Giggs’ kick was flicked on by Berbatov for Vidic to find the net with a far post diving header.

It was the central defender’s fifth goal of the season and not for the first time this season it was one of great importance.

Chelsea brought on Nicolas Anelka at the restart, but their more adventurous approach simply played into United’s hands.

They doubled their advantage midway through the second period when Patrice Evra’s cross was headed on by Berbatov and Rooney showed great perception to poke the ball home by sticking his boot in-between the legs of Ashley Cole.

Ronaldo had a goal disallowed when replays showed he was clearly onside, but the third goal eventually came in the 87th minute.

Ronaldo drove a low free kick in from the left and Berbatov stole in front of Michael Ballack to stab home at the near post — a typical poacher’s goal — and his eighth of the season since his big-money move from Tottenham.


Benitez ‘disturbed for some reason’ — Fergie

SIR Alex Ferguson responded to the blast directed at him by Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez after United’s emphatic win over Chelsea.

He said: “I think you have to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he will reflect and understand that was he said was absolutely ridiculous.

“He was an angry man and was disturbed for some reason. That is all I want to say about it as all we should do is to concentrate on the leaders, who are Liverpool, and try to catch them.”

Ferguson was surprised by United’s margin of victory against Chelsea.

Games between the two teams are normally tight — they drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season — but United were simply too good for their fellow championship contenders.

Ferguson said: “It was a great day for us and to score our first goal on the stroke of half time certainly made a difference as Chelsea had to come out and chase the game.

“They brought on Nicolas Anelka at half time, which opened up the midfield.

“Some of our attacking play was very good and we created a lot of chances. We could have scored more goals as Petr Cech made three great saves.”

Man-of-the-match Ryan Giggs admitted it was a massive victory for the Reds.

He said: “First and foremost we wanted to win the game, but to keep a clean sheet and score three goals against a very good side sets us up a big week.”

Giggs also believes the victory will boost confidence after United had only picked up one point from three previous matches against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool this season.

Renowned as a winger, the Welshman said he was relishing a new central-midfield role in the twilight of his illustrious career.

“I am no stranger to playing in midfield and I have good engine around me in Ji-Sung Park, Patrice Evra and Darren Fletcher,” he explained. “I try to control the game and use my experience.”

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari admitted his side are not playing well and went on to say United were the better team.

“It caused us big damage,” was Scolari’s reply to a question about what impact the defeat will have on Chelsea’s title challenge.