Chelsea Line-up:
Cech
Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex 11'), Terry (c) A Cole
Ballack (Kalou 73'), Mikel, Lampard
Joe Cole, Anelka, Malouda (Drogba 46').

Scorers:
18' Park Ji-Sung 0-1
78' Kalou 1-1


The match had all the ingredients of a thriller, and it didn't disappoint the fans. Even with the attacking quality both teams possessed, we knew it was not the number of goals that would make the match thrilling, but the intensity at which the game is played.

As they did at Anfield a week back, United started well, with Park and Fletcher starting ahead of Nani and Ronaldo, and Rooney partnering Berbatov upfront with Tevez on the bench. Deco's injury during warm-up and Carvalho's injury in the opening minutes were a huge blow to Chelsea even though we had adequate cover in the form of 'Ze German' Ballack and Brazilian Alex. Chelsea took time to settle with the new strategy and game plan and United capitalized.

Deco's absence showed in the passing early on. The passing lacked the beauty that we have seen lately from Chelsea and it looked more like the Chelsea we saw last season. United took the lead early on when Evra's thrust into the box was not stopped and Cech spilled the ball into the path of Park. Cech had earlier made a quality save from a Ferdinand shot. Chelsea too got their share of chances to score but Joe Cole failed ot hit the target even though Van Der Sar had given up hope.

Van Der Sar was soon substituted because it seemed like he had an injury. I felt that it was a blessing in disguise for United because the Oranje goalkeeper looked totally out of sorts. Chelsea came back to the match soon. Mikel looked awesome in front of the back four, or back two rather. Bosingwa and Cole went forward on every opportunity, and troubled the United fullbacks, especially Neville. Ballack was playing well considering he is just back from injury. Lampard looked good, Malouda played like Malouda, Joe Cole was poor and Anelka was average during the remainder of the game. Terry had a very mediocre game but Alex made sure we didn't feel the absence of Carvalho in defense.

Chelsea took total control in the second half of the match. Scolari's half time talk made sure that Man Untd were outplayed and outclassed in the second half. It was a great sight to see the champs of Premier League defending for the majority of time just like Stoke City did at Anfield on the previous day. Rooney had an excellent match defensively and was even seen complaining to his coach about the lack of intensity in his co-players.

Ronaldo was brought in by Fergie in the second half to add pace to the United counter-attacks but the ploy failed miserably. Ronaldo announced his arrival by a typical dive that fooled only Mike Riley and then later got himself a yellow card for showing dissent. Ronaldo considerably weakened the strength of United bus that was parked in front of goal. Joe Cole missed his second one-on-one situation but made amends by putting a perfect cross in front of Anelka. It was too easy for a player of Anelka's quality and hence he missed from a yard in front of an empty net.

Scolari threw Kalou into the pitch, the last roll of dice and Kalou scored from a setpiece header. He could have doubled his and Chelsea's score when Neville's clearance fell straight in front of him. Neville recovered somehow, and with Evans' help, cleared the ball away. On the other end of the pitch, Berbatov rarely got the ball and Alex put himself in front of goal to save Chelsea the blues in the final quarter of the match.

Drogba came on in the second half and his appearance was a huge relief, except maybe to Johny Evans. He held the ball, chased the ball and won every battle upfront. He put the extra pressure on defenders but the other forwards failed to capitalize. Joe Cole had a bad day at the office while Anelka's finishing betrayed him. He played some beautiful passes and also was in the right places, but he needs to improve his finishing to be a regular in the Chelsea line-up.

Riley gave the mancs 7 yellow cards and they deserved every single one of them. We know from Riley's record that he would never be harsh on United. He did disrupt the passage of play sometimes but his yellow card decisions were all right. Having said that, I don't think Mike Riley is a good referee. If Mascherano was yellow carded for 'dissent' at Old Trafford, and the same law holds good now, Rooney and Ferdinand should be banned for the whole season. They showed no respect and repeatedly questioned every decision by the referee.

We could have won the match, but we should be happy with the draw. The home record is intact and the season promises so much. Even though Arsenal are top of the league now, I feel its just a matter of time now before we are back on top.

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What an occasion to post my 100th post in this blog - Manchester United at Stamford Bridge!

The match has a lot of significance though Scolari believes this is just another league match. If Chelsea win this, the statement they make would be loud and clear. If United manage to win, then it would be the spark they need to truly kick start their season. If United win or the match turns out to be a draw, which many consider a safe bet, then Arsenal would end up having the top spot in the table.

Liverpool drew with Stoke yesterday after a Gerrard goal was disallowed in the early minutes and then they failed to overcome Stoke's physicality. They became league toppers until Arsenal beat Bolton at Reebok late in the evening to claim the top spot. Now its upto the Blues to take back their spot in the league, which they occupied since the season began a month ago.

After the match against the French side mid-week, Scolari pointed out that there was still a lot of room for improvement. I believe Scolari was warning the players against getting complacent. He wants a state of "tranquility" i.e, good possession effectively minimizing opposition attacks. I guess all the time he had the weekend match in mind and he wasn't impressed with Chelsea giving away balls easily.

There is a strong possibility of Scolari going with the same starting line-up that drubbed Bordeaux mid-week and humbled Citeh the last weekend. Drogba and Ballack might be fit to play and Scolari may bring them on during the game. Anelka, though he missed half a dozen chances whenever he played this season, is likely to get another go before Drogba replaces him in first team.

I'm just praying Scolari won't commit the same mistake Grant committed - to play Drogba upfront and Anelka wide. Joe Cole is having a splendid time and Malouda is beginning to play well and so we don't need a replacement in the flanks. Similarly, Ballack would find it difficult to displace Lampard, Deco or Mikel from midfield. Its no coincidence that whenever John Obi played, Chelsea won comfortably.

For United, Ronaldo is likely to start because it was his arrival that unlocked the Villareal defense. Before that, United didn't look like scoring at all. It remains to be seen if Fergie considers this match worth risking Ronaldo's fitness. I think Fergie would start Ronaldo unless he shares the same opinion as me - Ronaldo is useless against good opponents.

If Ronaldo starts, it would be interesting to see where Bosingwa plays, in the opposition half as he does nowadays or his own half. Ronaldo wouldn't fancy the wing Ashley Cole is defending because he was unsuccessful there in previous meetings. Marcel Desailly believes Ronaldo starting would be an indication of how desperate United is. Maybe Magricoz ex-coach Scolari knows how to deal with Ronaldo.

Meanwhile Setanta Sports reports that Mineiro had a successful medical at Stamford Bridge yesterday and is close to completing a move. The Brazilian midfielder would be a replacement for injured Essien.

Guess at the team:
Cech  
Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, Cole
Deco, Mikel, Lampard
J.Cole, Anelka, Malouda
subs: Cudicini, Alex, Belletti, Bridge, Drogba, Ballack, Ferreira, Kalou


Referee: Mike Riley
Time :14:00 BST/18:30 IST
TV Timings: 1830 ESPN(IST), 21/09/08. 
Scoreline prediction: 3-1


Head To Head
Home and Away:
League (inc PL): Chelsea 37 wins, United 55 wins, Draws 40
Prem: Chelsea 10 wins, United 9 wins, Draws 13
At Stamford Bridge:
League (inc PL): Chelsea 20 wins, United 29, Draws 17
Prem: Chelsea 6 wins, United 4 wins, Draws 6

Form Guide
Chelsea:
17 Aug v Portsmouth (H) won 4-0 (EPL)
24 Aug v Wigan (A) won 1-0 (EPL)
31 Aug v Tottenham (H) drew 1-1 (EPL)
13 Sep v Manchester City (A) won 3-1 (EPL)
16 Sep v Bordeaux (H) won 4-0 (CL)

Manchester United:
17 Aug v Newcastle (H) drew 1-1 (EPL)
25 Aug v Portsmouth (A) won 1-0 (EPL)
29 Aug v Zenit St Petersburg (N) lost 1-2 (SC)
13 Sep v Liverpool (A) lost 1-2 (EPL)
17 Sep v Villarreal (H) drew 0-0 (CL)

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Stamford Bridge bids adieu to Shaun Wright-Phillips as the winger was sold to his former club Manchester City. He was bought in the 2005 summer and always remained in the shadows of more crafty wingers like robben, Joe Cole and Duff. Wright-Phillips had his chances when Robben and Duff left but failed to capitalize on it. He lacked the consistency to be a regular first team player though a lot was expected from the England international.

In total Wright-Phillips started 65 games and played 59 games as a sub for Chelsea, scoring 10 goals. His departure means the Robinho deal would be finished any time now. Obviously Real is holding on to Robinho because Calderon wants maximum possible price from Chelsea. All the best to Wright-Phillips and lets hope he scores goals galore, except when its against us.

More good news followed for Blue fans as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech have all been given Uefa awards in their respective positions. The awards were given out in a ceremony in Monaco, the venue where group stage draw of 54th Champions League was carried out by the Union of European Football Associations. The following are the eight Champions League groupings -

• Group A: Chelsea, AS Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj.
• Group B: Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Famagusta.
• Group C: FC Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk.
• Group D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atlético de Madrid.
• Group E: Manchester United, Celtic, Villareal, Aalborg.
• Group F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucureşti, Fiorentina.
• Group G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbache, Dynamo Kiev.
• Group H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St. Petersburg, Borisov.

Roma,  Bordeaux and CFR Cluj are the opponents for Chelsea in group A. Luciano Spalletti's Roma would be the greatest threat, but the Blue fans need not worry much because we have a true Blue hero in the Roma squad - John Arne Riise. The Giallorossi plays in the Stadio Olimpico where the champions League final will be played this season.

Bordeaux are the French league runners up and are a formidable side coached by ex-United player Laurent Blanc. Meanwhile CFR Cluj are the Romanian champions who won both the league and cup last season. Cluj are busy during the transfer window preparing for European competition.

The Blues' fixtures for the group stages are -

Tuesday 16 September - Bordeaux (home)
Wednesday 1 October - Cluj (away)
Wednesday 22 October - Roma (home)
Tuesday 4 November - Roma (away)
Wednesday 26 November - Bordeaux (away)
Tuesday 9 December - Cluj (home)

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Scorers: J.Cole(I2'), Anelka(26'), Lampard(45'), Deco(89')

Starting Eleven:
Cech 
Bosingwa, Carvalho, Terry, A.Cole
Lampard, Mikel, Ballack
Deco, J.Cole
Anelka

Subs: Hilario, Bridge, Wright-Phillips, Malouda (on 38), Di Santo, Alex, Ferreira (on 83).

Chelsea had a perfect start to the season as we smashed four goals past Redknapp's clueless Pompeys. In what was a perfect start to the campaign, both Deco and Bosingwa made impressive debuts and Deco was awarded man of the match after he rounded off his efforts for the day with a stunning 30-yard shot to beat David James. Stamford Bridge saw some of the best football played there in recent times. Chelsea dominated the game completely, with accurate, slick passes and great movement in the midfield. It was like all the Pompey players were invisible, except of course the goalkeeper whose efforts meant Portsmouth were punished with four only.

Bosingwa made his debut alongside Terry, Carvalho and Cole in the defense. His recovery from the injury picked in the pre-season friendly was fast and he made it to the squad. But, Essien didn't. Essien's unavailability meant Mikel did the defensive role in the midfield. Scolari had a line-up that was predictable, but what we were to spectate was never predicted. Anelka played the lone man upfront with Joe Cole supporting him.

In the first half, Chelsea showed all its class and quality with overwhelming possession and great passing. Deco demonstrated his range and vision with deft touches and accurate passes, while Lampard and Ballack were exquisite and calm. The ball rarely went behind Mikel, who was sitting pretty in the Makalele role. To add to the worries of Pompeys, both Chelsea fullbacks were attacking down the flanks. Ashley Cole, given the freedom to go forward did so with grit and flair while Bosingwa was impressive with his runs and crossing. Anelka played as if he wanted to prove a point and that Kalac wasn't the only reason he scored four in the last pre-season match.

The things that impressed me most was that all the players were involved and wanted the ball. Whenever Pompeys had the ball, they were closed down quickly and the ball was snatched with determination and ease. The last season had given enough reasons for motivation and it showed. It took eight minutes for Lampard to register his first shot, a long range shot that forced David James into action. After watching the early stages of the game, the first goal was just a matter of time, and the match was about how many.


Ze German showed his class when his perfect pass found Joe, after Anelka and Deco combined to initiate the move. Joe was through on goal and beat James with a low shot to the far post. Eight minutes later, Anelka should have doubled the lead having beaten the offside trap, but his low shot was straight at James. The second goal came as Deco found Anelka somehow from a Bosingwa pass and the Frenchman headed into an empty post. Ballack was forced to withdraw in the 37th minute and Malouda replaced him, though he played on left flank. But nothing changed for Pompeys. Hreidarsson handled inside the area when Pompeys were looking to escape first half with minimum damage and Lampard scored his first this season with ease.


The second half was the same. Maybe Portsmouth got a bit more possession when Chelsea downed their tempo but there were no genuine goal threats. Chelsea dominated possession again and Scolari decided to bring in Wright-Phillips and Ferreira instead of Joe and Bosingwa. Just when Redknapp sighed with relief that they will be punished with three goals only, Deco came with a shot from 30 yards out that surprised him, James and everybody. There was no wonder Deco was awarded 'man of the match', as Chelsea began their quest with a victory, and now is back on top of the league.


Just when I thought things couldn't get better, United drew at home to Newcastle. So both records stayed intact. United's record of not winning the opening match of the season since 99' and our home record. And Deco, Torres and Santa Cruz starred in my fantasy team. Chelsea plays Wigan next at the JJB. An away game considered tough taking into consideration the JJB pitch. But from what we have seen, there are more good things to come and the season promises much.

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Lampard's contract talks and Mourinho's tatcics to lure the midfiledler away was a topic of much speculation for about two months. Yesterday the Club made an announcement declaring that Frank Lampard has signed a new five-year deal which will keep him at the club until 2013.

Lampard was a offered a 4 year deal at first as his contract was due to expire at the end of the 2008/09 season. But Frank wanted a five year contract and remained adamant about it, a stand which earned him no friends except in Milan. The Official site says Lampard's dedication to the Club is unquestionable, and the fans surely saw glimpses of that. Glimpses of something that said a lot about dedication and loyalty to the Club, something that will require a lot more badge-kissing if it is to be healed.

I don't know why the Lampard contract renewal was material for 'World Exclusive' when Cech's or Essien's contract renewal were just ordinary affairs of the Club. Didn't Essien too have good relations with Mourinho? But we never saw him using that as a smokescreen for getting a new contract. Maybe the Club feels Frank is bigger than them, but no amounts of badge-kissing will make the fans accept that. But having said all that, Frank Lampard is still one of my favorite players and will remain so. Lets take a look at his interview after he signed the new contract.

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