Manchester United’s hopes of retaining the title were dashed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as the Blues comfortably beat the reigning champions 3-1.
Sameul Eto’o was the star of the evening as he scored all three goals. Ashley Young had the first chance of the game as early as in the 2nd minute but his shot after a neat give and go with Danny Welbeck was saved well by Petr Cech. Eto’o put the Londoners in front on 17 minutes when he easily went past Phil Jones and his shot took a slight deflection off Michael Carrick’s outstretched foot and found the top corner. Eden Hazard was dispossessed in his own half by Patrice Evra but the Frenchman hit the side netting. Adnan Januzaj did well to retain possession under pressure from David Luiz but his low cross into the six yard area was not met by anyone. Januzaj had another cross find Danny Welbeck but the striker seemed to have been upended by Cesar Azpilicueta as he was getting ready to pull the trigger. His tame effort was easily saved by Cech.
Oscar sent an overhead kick high and wide but Eto’o made it two to the good just before the break when he tapped in Gary Cahill’s low cross following a corner. Chelsea started the second half just as they had ended the first with Eto’o completing his hat trick on 49 minutes. Cahill’s header from Willian’s corner was saved by David De Gea but the Cameroonian was the first to react and stab home from point blank range. Cech almost gifted the visitors a goal in the 70th minute when he failed to control Cahill’s back pass and with Javier Hernandez sliding in to slot the ball in, the keeper managed to keep possession and get the ball away. United pulled one back 7 minutes later, albeit a mere consolation. Welbeck’s cut back was directed towards goal by Jones but Hernandez had the last touch in guiding the ball into the net. David Moyes’ evening went from bad to worse when Nemanja Vidic was sent off for a rash tackle on Hazard in injury time. Rafael was lucky not to have been sent off as well for a two footed challenge.
