Summary
The Blues march into the semi-finals of the FA
Cup and a Wembley date with Manchester City as Demba Ba scored the only goal of
the game to overcome Manchester United.
After a fairly quiet opening 45 minutes, Ba broke
the deadlock early in the second half when he raced on to an intelligent Juan
Mata pass and crashed a first-time volley beyond David de Gea and into the top
corner.
Petr Cech pulled off a magnificent stop to deny
Javier Hernandez shortly after as United looked to hit back, before Eden Hazard
and Juan Mata both went close.
In the end, however, we ran out deserved winners,
and offered the perfect response to Saturday's defeat at Southampton.
You simply cannot back against us in the FA Cup,
and we now turn our attention towards Thursday's Europa League quarter-final
against Rubin Kazan.
Team news
With the game coming less than 48 hours after
Saturday's defeat at Southampton, Rafael Benitez understandably made a number
of changes, with only Cech, Branislav Ivanovic John Mikel Obi and Oscar
retaining their places in the side.
David Luiz and Ashley Cole came into the back
four, with John Terry and Ryan Bertrand dropping down to the bench, while in
midfield Ramires replaced Frank Lampard. Juan Mata and Eden Hazard were both
handed starts, at the expense of Victor Moses and Marko Marin, and in attack Ba
was preferred to Fernando Torres.
For Manchester United, there was no Wayne Rooney,
while Robin van Persie started on the bench.
First half
With both sides eager not to surrender the early
initiative, much of the opening 15 minutes was played in midfield, with
goalscoring opportunities at both ends proving elusive.
The visitors appeared content to get men behind
the ball and look to hit us on the break, and it almost paid dividends when
Danny Welbeck was left isolated with Ivanovic, although the Serbian deserved
credit for the manner in which he dispossessed the striker.
The first moment of worry for the Blues came in the
20th minute when Cole pulled up with what looked like a hamstring problem as he
challenged for the ball with Welbeck. It was instantly clear the left-back was
in serious trouble, and so it proved as after a quick assessment he was
withdrawn from the action and replaced by Bertrand.
Chelsea v Manchester United
As the half-hour mark approached we tested David
de Gea for the first time in the game as Hazard fed Ba, but the 'keeper denied
the Senegalese international low down with his feet.
Moments later we were awarded a free-kick just
outside the penalty area, but David Luiz's effort was high and harmless.
Eight minutes before the break United had their
first attempt on goal, although it was a speculative effort from distance by
Nani, who watched it fizz wide of Cech's left-hand post, while Hazard fired
narrowly over the bar at the other end.
The creative players on show, on both sides, had
struggled to exert their influence during the opening 40 minutes, but Cech was
forced into an unconventional save to thwart Javier Hernandez as the striker's
long-range strike appeared to hit a divot and almost wrong-footed the Chelsea
goalkeeper.
Two minutes before half-time the visitors thought
they had a legitimate claim for a penalty after Bertrand and Antonio Valencia
tangled inside the box. Phil Dowd gave the Blues substitute the benefit of the
doubt, and replays suggested he'd called it correctly.
Second half
Both teams emerged for the second half unchanged,
and within three minutes of the restart we were in front.
Mata picked the ball up deep inside the United
half and played a brilliant ball over the head of Rio Ferdinand, where Ba raced
on to it and volleyed spectacularly on the turn past the stranded De Gea.
Demba Ba after scoring against Man United
It was a goal of the highest quality and gave us
the perfect start to the second half, as well as a deserved lead.
If the first half had been a relatively timid
affair, the second was shaping up to be anything but, and Tom Cleverley became
the first player to be booked for a nasty lunge on Ramires.
Ba again went close, this time with a header,
after some good work by Ramires and Hazard, and on the hour mark Cech pulled
off one of the saves of the season to maintain our lead, somehow diverting a
point-blank Hernandez header over the bar as everybody inside Stamford Bridge
waited for the net to bulge.
Unsurprisingly, Alex Ferguson, sensing the need
for a change, introduced Van Persie at the expense of Cleverley, while soon
after Ryan Giggs replaced the largely ineffective Nani as the away side looked
to get back in the game.
In the 66th minute Hazard was presented with a
glorious chance to double our advantage, pouncing on a wayward pass by Michael
Carrick and racing clean through, only to drag his shot agonisingly wide of De
Gea's post.
The Blues were looking dangerous on the break,
and United were having problems dealing with the movement of Hazard, Mata and
Oscar as the trio drifted between the lines while searching for openings.
The visitors, however, were still seeing plenty
of the ball, and while we were largely limiting them to shots from distance,
the threat remained.
With 13 minutes left to play Mata fired over from
the edge of the penalty area after Bertrand had done well to win the ball back,
while soon after United made their final substitution as Ashley Young replaced
Welbeck.
Chelsea were defending well, but with three
minutes remaining the visitors saw a wonderful chance go begging as Van Persie
ghosted into the box and volleyed over from Patrice Evra's cross.
Chelsea v Manchester United
Almost immediately, we went straight up the other
end and came close to putting the game to bed, only for Mata to be denied by De
Gea after excellent interchanging between Oscar and Hazard.
Moses, who had replaced Oscar in the final minute
of normal time, then had another great chance to finish it, but as he came
inside Ferdinand, rather than shooting, he attempted to beat the defender again
and lost out.
Over the years United have become notorious for
their ability to rescue games late on, but after defending well throughout the
game, we deservedly held on for a famous victory in a tournament we have grown
to love in recent years.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Cech (c); Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Cole (Bertrand 21);
Ramires, Mikel; Oscar (Moses 90+1), Mata, Hazard; Ba (Torres 90+3).
Unused substitutes: Turnbull, Terry, Lampard,
Benayoun.
Scorer Ba 48
Booked Bertrand 59, Azpilicueta 76, Mata 88,
Oscar 89
Manchester United (4-4-1-1): De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evra (c); Nani (Giggs 65), Jones,
Carrick, Cleverley (Van Persie 60); Welbeck (Young 79); Hernandez.
Unused substitutes: Lindegaard, Vermijl, Powell,
Kagawa.
Booked Cleverley 54
Referee Phil Dowd
Crowd 40,704
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