Match Report: Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
(AET, 6-5 after penalties)
As fate would have it - perhaps the perfect phrase to sum up an entire season that climaxed with Ryan Giggs scoring the penalty that ultimately won the Champions League trophy for Manchester United on the night that made him the player who has made most appearances for the club - 50 years after the Munich disaster, and 40 years after the club won its first European trophy.
United and Chelsea battled out an intense, entertaining, and draining 120 minutes and when the final whistle went you almost felt as it would come down to a split decision by a panel on the side - every player, all the staff, and every fan felt like they had endured 12 rounds with Ali at his best, but in the end, it was John Terry of all people whose miss in the resulting shootout proved decisive and gave United the opportunity to take the biggest prize in European club football.
Cristiano Ronaldo had given the Red Devils the lead on 26 minutes when Paul Scholes, Owen Hargreaves and Wes Brown combined brilliantly, Brown's left foot cross providing the assist, and Ronaldo leapt like the proverbial salmon to excellently head in. And it could have been so much better in that opening exchange - Ronaldo was causing havoc down the left hand side in tandem with Evra, Rooney was producing magnificent pass after magnificent pass, and Carlos Tevez was at his industrial best. Tevez was agonisingly close to a full connection on a super Rooney pass, while Tevez and then Carrick forced superb saves from Petr Cech.
United were certainly not letting the occasion get to them but Chelsea scored on the stroke of half time, completely against the run of play, and thanks in no small part to Ashley Cole gaining 25 yards on a throw in - a mix up in the United defence allowed Lampard to sneak in, and when van der Sar unbelievably fell down, the England midfielder had an easy task to finish. The goal predictably galvanised Chelsea who looked far more composed after the break, and could have scored when Drogba's 20 yard shot struck the post - both sides seemed to accept extra time was inevitable, and with 3 minutes remaining, Ryan Giggs was introduced for the busy Paul Scholes - no token gesture by Sir Alex Ferguson. 10 minutes of extra time in, and Nani was introduced for an almost inconsolable Wayne Rooney. Rooney had done little wrong but was perhaps tiring due to his recent hip injury. Before he was replaced however, he saw John Terry amazingly deny Giggs a goal - the United legend stabbed at it, but failed to make a full connection and Terry cleared off the line.
Chelsea struck the woodwork again, Lampard's drive hitting the crossbar, before a melee broke out - during which Didier Drogba slapped Nemanja Vidic, giving the referee no choice but to dismiss him. Penalties were inevitable, and with that in mind and just seconds left, Brazilian starlet Anderson was brought on for Brown.
Both sides decided to hold their first choice penalty takers back until after the first kicks - both Tevez and Ballack, then Carrick and Belletti scored their kicks before it was the turn of Ronaldo and Lampard. Cech stretched marvellously to deny Ronaldo, who looked devestated, a feeling compounded when first Lampard scored, then Ashley Cole followed Hargreaves composed effort with a fine penalty of his own. A special mention here should go to the cool head of Nani - the youngster infamously lost his head in the West Ham game and with arguably the most difficult penalty of the night, he scored to ensure United hung on in there. It was left to John Terry to complete a perfect 5 for Chelsea, but he slipped upon contacting the ball, it struck the post, and suddenly, out of nowhere, Manchester United's Champions League hopes were resurrected.
Anderson (who hadn't had a competitive kick of a football since being substituted at Stamford Bridge almost a month ago) confidently powered home the first sudden death penalty, but that was matched by a similarly confident Kalou spotkick. Ryan Giggs, who later confessed he'd taken 10-12 penalties and missed just one in practice, kept his nerve and hit the coolest penalty of the night, completely sending Cech the wrong way. Then Nicolas Anelka stepped up - a man who scored for Arsenal and Manchester City against United, a man who only needs to finish his career at Leeds to complete the set of United rivals he's represented. van der Sar guessed correctly, atoning for his error that gifted the Lampard goal, and more importantly, won the Champions League for the reds, to ensure United had won the trophy so typically the hardest way possible - even coming back from behind in the penalty shoot out to become victorious!
The win ensured United's 4th trophy double (including the treble), and as such the 4th trophy double for Sir Alex and Ryan Giggs at Old Trafford.
Ratings : van der Sar 7, Brown 7 (Anderson), Ferdinand 8, Vidic 8, Evra 8, Hargreaves 8*, Scholes 7 (Giggs 7), Carrick 8, Rooney 7 (Nani 6), Tevez 7, Ronaldo 8.
Source:(Yolkie)