Honours Even After Thriller At The Bridge  (Sky Sports)

Chelsea 2 Manchester United 2

Ryan Giggs scores United's second goal.
Giggs claims his century

 

Chelsea 2-2 Manchester Utd 
Gallas 3 
Zenden 45		   Beckham 26
Giggs 66
Barclaycard Premiership


Manchester United twice had to come from behind to earn a point in a Sky Live thriller at Stamford Bridge, with Ryan Giggs and David Beckham canceling out strikes from William Gallas and Boudewijn Zenden.

Gallas edged the home side in front early on, and the visitors looked out-of-sorts until they leveled out of nothing through Beckham's deflected left-foot effort.

Zenden's 20-yard thump gave the Blues a deserved edge at the interval, but United stepped up a gear in the second period and were well worth their point earnt through Giggs crisp clinical finish just after the hour - his 100th goal for the club.

Sir Alex Ferguson started with Juan Sebastian Veron on the bench, and the recalled Paul Scholes pushed forward in support of Ruud van Nistelrooy, a policy which causes such a mixed reaction amongst the United support.

William Gallas scorere of Chelsea's first goal.
Gallas: Have some of that!


It certainly did not look like producing dividends in the early exchanges as Zenden swung in a low free-kick from the right and Gallas sneaked ahead of the United defence to divert the ball past Roy Carroll from close range.

Chelsea were far more assured in their build-up play, sending neat one-touch passes zipping across the turf, with Frank Lampard and Emmanuel Petit winning the midfield battle.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, selected up front despite the continuing uncertainty over his future, also came close twice to putting his side further ahead in an impressive display, while Zenden was appearing with telling effect all over the park.

Carlo Cudicini had hardly got his knees dirty until Mikael Silvestre arrowed a 40-yard cross field pass to Beckham on the right edge of the penalty box.

His first touch was sublime, his second took him past Celestine Babayaro and the third sent a shot looping over Carlo Cudicini, courtesy of a slight deflection off Marcel Desailly.

As the game opened up, Giggs struck the outside of the post when well-placed 12 yards out, while Gianfranco Zola skimmed the bar and Carroll saved bravely at the feet of Hasselbaink.

However, Fabien Barthez' deputy was at fault as he conceded possession just before half-time with a throw intended to launch a counter-attack.

David Beckham scores United's First goal.
Beckham curls it home

Instead, play came straight back towards him, with Zenden unleashing a fierce left-fot shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.

While Chelsea had taken the first-half honours, it was United who dominated the second period. as they pushed up and took control of the midfield, and John O'Shea stood out impressively at the back.

Van NIstelrooy was frustrated more than once by dubious offside decisions, before Beckham struck the crossbar with a chip and after Cudicini had produced a smart save from Scholes, he later looked to have brought the midfielder down in the area for a certain penalty, but Graham Poll said no.
 
The reprieve was only temporary; Silvestre made a determined break down the left flank and cut the ball back for Giggs to clip a first-time shot past Cudicini.

Unsurprisingly, on a muggy evening, there was a flurry of substitutions in the latter stages, but as the pace of a pulsating contest finally flagged, chances were few and far between.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Desailly, Gallas, Babayaro, Zenden, Lampard, Petit (Gronkjaer 75), De Lucas,
Hasselbaink (Cole 80), Zola (Gudjohnsen 80).
Subs Not Used: de Goey, Ferrer.
Booked: Desailly, Hasselbaink, De Lucas.

Manchester Utd: Carroll, Phil Neville, Blanc, O'Shea, Silvestre, Beckham, Butt, Keane, Giggs (Veron 84), Scholes (Solskjaer 76), van Nistelrooy (Forlan 90).
Subs Not Used: Williams, Tierney.
Booked: Phil Neville, Beckham.

Att: 41,541
Ref: G Poll (Hertfordshire).

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