Worst Defeat For Chelsea

Chelsea must not have suffered such a defeat as chelsea suffered today. Chelsea suffered their worst Old Trafford defeat in 15 years as Manchester United eased to a thoroughly-deserved 3-0 win after Nemanja Vidic had broken the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.

Wayne Rooney added another just after the hour mark before Dimitar Berbatov completed victory for Sir Alex Ferguson's men near the end.

To start with Chelsea seemed more incisive in midfield, even if their hosts had more possession.

Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack both had chances and a more natural offensive player than Ashley Cole would surely have profited from Deco's inspired pass instead of allowing it to bounce through to Edwin van der Sar.

In return a viciously curling Ryan Giggs free-kick caused Petr Cech a problem, more so than Berbatov's scuffed shot after being invited to shoot by Rooney.

But, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ballack also having penalty claims turned down, a hotly-contested contest was still waiting for its switch to be triggered as it entered the last couple of first-half minutes.

Ronaldo might have flicked it but he mis-hit a shot that bounced into Rooney. Then Darren Fletcher had a penalty appeal turned down when his effort struck John Terry on the arm.

Instead, United got the corner which will still be debated years from now. Rooney seemed to know exactly what he was doing when he rolled the ball into, then out of the quadrant. Giggs ambled over, crossed and Ronaldo - expected to be crowned FIFA world player of the year in Zurich on Monday - powered home a near-post header.

Referee Howard Webb and his linesman said no. Amazingly, Chelsea were still trying to take it in as Giggs swung over the re-take. This time Berbatov got there first, flicking the ball on towards the far post where Vidic arrived to power home.

A month ago, Vidic scored United's injury-time winner against Sunderland before getting sent off in the FIFA Club World Cup final win in Japan that might yet rule him out of the Champions League ties with Inter Milan.

This was something different and prompted Scolari into a half-time reshuffle, with Anelka replacing Deco.

The move worked to the extent that Chelsea were able to enjoy more sustained spells with the ball.

However, the double negative for the visitors was that their finishing was poor and their need to attack played to United's strengths.

Nevertheless, Chelsea's goal should not have been under threat once Patrice Evra exchanged passes with Ronaldo but then skimmed Berbatov's head with the left-wing cross.

Cole seemed to be in control of the situation but Rooney had other ideas as he pushed his leg between the England full-back's and got enough power into a shot to divert it past a startled Cech.

And Ronaldo picked out Berbatov with a low free-kick four minutes from time that gave the Bulgarian an easy finish.

Once the most feared Barclays Premier League striker, Didier Drogba hit one shot so wide he conceded a throw-in, another skidded off the side of his foot and missed the target by 20 yards.

None of this will worry United, of course. They are now a single point adrift of the Londoners with two matches in hand. And if they win the first of them, against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday, they will only trail Liverpool by two.