The best game of the 2013-13 Premier League season is Chelsea 2-3 Manchester United. The October 28th meeting between the two giants turned into one of the most tumultuous games the rivalry has seen in recent years.
Build Up:
Chelsea had led the league for the whole season, up to this point, having not lost a game, getting 22 points out of a possible 24. Roberto Di Matteo's side was coming off a 2-1 loss in the Champions League to Shakhtar Donetsk. The Blues certainly did not want to end their unbeaten streak against the Red Devils, 10 years without a loss at home, tonight; Di Matteo started his best side, with David Luiz and Gary Cahill at the centre backs and Ashley Cole and Bransilav Ivanovic at full backs rounding out the back line. The Three Amigos, Oscar, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard, were placed in the midfield, with Fernando Torres up front. Sir Alex Ferguson was without his longtime captain, Nemanja Vidic, and started Johnny Evans and Rio Ferdinand in the center. He did have, however, the two most potent attackers in the league in his starting lineup, Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. Ashley Young, who had been left out because of injury for the past two months, was a starter, rounding out a strong United starting XI.
The Game:
Manchester United opened the scoring in just the 4th minute, when Wayne Rooney passed the ball ahead to Ashley Young. Young waited outside the box for Rooney to continue on his run down the wing, then lead him with a pass. Rooney dribbled into the box, crossed back towards the middle and found RVP. The Dutchman hit a shot that rocketed onto the crossbar; the ball came back off the bar, hit David Luiz in the back, before he could turn around, and went past Petr Cech into the net; although the goal would be credited as a David Luiz own goal, but the credit should go to Van Persie. He did get his goal several minutes later, when Rio Ferdinand started an attack from the back; Rafael moved the ball on up field to Antonio Valencia, who crossed the ball low. RVP again got hold of the ball, redirecting it past Cech and into the net. United now had a 2-0 lead, just 12 minutes in. Chelsea tried to get back into the game, with David Luiz forcing a great leg save from David De Gea, following his trademark spinning shot; Eden Hazard hit a shot just past the post a few minutes later. When John Obi Mikel found himself with rooms of space in the box, he passed into the middle, forcing Michael Carrick to stick out a leg. The ball hit off the leg, went straight into the post, and out for a corner. Bullet dodged for United. Gary Cahill headed the ball straight into the net, and pulled one back for Chelsea... until it hit De Gea's leg. The Blues kept knocking on the door, Fernando Torres forcing a reaction save from the Spanish goalie. The Spaniard continued to defend his goal from the Londoners, until Juan Mata finally broke through in the 44th minute. Mata curled a beautiful free kick past the mass of players, leaving De Gea flat footed. Chelsea almost drew even just seconds later when Juan Mata's shot was saved by, again, the legs of De Gea. Fernando Torres picked up a deserved yellow card when he came in on a challenge too high, hitting Tom Cleverly in the chest.
The second half saw Chelsea draw even after 15 minutes. Oscar's lob pass into the box went too long, forcing Juan Mata to dribble it back to the edge of the box, on the goal line. His cross back in went to Fernando Torres at the far post, but the two United defenders sandwiching him touched the ball on. Oscar was there again to pick the ball up, lobbing the ball back into the scrum/middle of the box. Ramires rose above the rest to head the ball down, past De Gea's leg, and into the back of the net. The Blues were finally on equal terms, 53 minutes into the game. Just seconds later Eden hazard, the Belgian wizard, forced another great save from De Gea. Then, things took a turn for the poor, for Blues fans at least. In the 63rd minute, when Ashley Young broke away, Branislav Ivanovic inexplicably clipped the English players heals, garnering a straight red form referee Mark Clattenberg. It was well deserved, and was one of those times where Ivanovic is Ivanovic. Then, 5 minutes, later, the controversy of the game really heated up. As Daniel Sturridge was preparing to come on, Fernando Torres broke away, splitting United's two center backs. Johnny Evans, as Torres flew by, slide tackled the striker. He didn't make much contact, but enough for Torres to work with; or so the Spaniard thought. When Mark Clattenberg whistled, it was not to award Chelsea a free kick in dangerous territory, but instead to give the Red Devils a free kick... and to send off Torres for a second yellow card. Now look, I understand that there wasn't much contact, and that the striker is prone to diving, but to send someone off... for diving? Maybe in a radical case... but here? Now the Blues were 2 men down, and hopes of winning looked all but lost. Indeed, Javier Hernandez, the classic late goal scorer, condemned the Blues this day, scoring one of the most controversial goals of the season. RVP had hit a shot, that Petr Cech had done just enough to keep out. The ball tipped off his hand, and began rolling back towards the goal, swirling just enough to hit the post; Hernandez, Cech and two Chelsea defenders rushed back, with the Czech goalie clearing the ball off the line. It went straight to Rafael, who hit a shot/cross/I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing towards the goal. Chicharito rushed back, redirecting the ball into the net. Then the protests began; replays showed, conclusively, that he was offside; not only was he behind both Chelsea defenders, he was behind Cech too! However, to his credit, he made it look like he had just jumped onside. However, the Blues were really down now, and the game, and 3 points, were lost for good, robbed some Blues fans would say.
Aftermath:
The Blues really felt poor after the crushing defeat, and their play in the following month reflected it; in November, not only did they not win a single game the whole month, but they also were eliminated from the Champions League, becoming the first champions to be knocked out in the group stage the next year. United, on the other hand, went on to have a great month, winning all but one game. From then on out, Chelsea, who had been leading the league, fell steadily behind the Manchester clubs, and United, who had been trailing all year, took over the lead, never giving it back.
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