Manchester United produced a great comeback to take a point away from Stamford Bridge after going 3-0 down.
Two Wayne Rooney penalties and a header from Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez cancelled out a Jonny Evans own goal as well as efforts from Juan Mata and David Luiz.
Sir Alex Ferguson commended his players after the comeback but thinks the assistant referee could have done better with the decisions he made.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Sir Alex stated:
‘’It’s two points dropped because we played well, other than the ten minutes after half-time. It’s not easy getting back from 3-0 down. That’s a massive effort from my players.”
Asked about Chelsea new boy Gary Cahill’s challenge on Danny Welbeck, the Scot continued:
‘’It was a sending off. The linesman has given two penalty kicks against us at Old Trafford in the last two years, one against Arsenal and one against Liverpool from 45 yards away but can’t see that? I don’t blame Howard Webb, I blame the assistant.
‘’There was a pull on Ashley Young in front of the linesman again and he doesn’t give it. Yet he gives them at Old Trafford. I don’t understand it. I don’t know where they get them from.
‘’His jersey is pulled. Was he diving? If it’s a pull on the shirt he’s not diving obviously. The two penalties in the second half was justified but we could have had four.”
Ferguson was also grateful for Javier Hernandez’s leveller and admitted he should have started the Mexican international:
‘’To be honest I should have played Chicharito from the start. When he came on, he kept them on their toes, his movement, his positional play. Danny is an excellent player and will be a top player but Chicharito when he came on, it was a different game.”
It was a great comeback and underlined the spirit we have and why we won’t just give the title up easily. We should have won today though. It was a great chance today to break this 10 year barren spell, but Stamford Bridge seems to be our bogey ground. However last week, when we were 3 points behind Man City, I would have accepted being only 2 points behind after playing Chelsea away.
We had control of the game, but just like last week against Liverpool, we got sloppy and conceded. The first goal was horrible defending from Evra, and he should have done a lot better. Sadly I feel Evra has been a liability in terms of defending. The attacking qualities are still strong but defensively its not great. The second goal was a fantastic strike by Mata, but Torres should have been put under more pressure by Young. The third goal was ridiculous defending and underline 5 minuets of madness after half-time.
At 0-3 down most people would have thought this was going to be a thrashing. The players did fantastically well to come back and to somehow leave with a point. It could be a massive point at the end of the season. There are no doubts about the first penalty and it got us back into the game. The second was a bit soft, but no more so than Adam Johnson yesterday against Fulham. Cahill should have been red carded in the first half.
Hernandez did great when he came on and deserved his equalising goal. Giggs placed a great cross and Hernandez brilliantly headed it in. I think rest period that Hernandez has had over the last couple of months would have done him good. He is starting to look sharp again and that could be crucial now towards the end of the season.
We are on a tough run of game which started away to Arsenal, but we have to remain in the hunt. In some ways Man City will be happy we dropped two points today, but the title is won over a distance and not on a week to week basis. When you lead the table every point is crucial, and they would have also been frustrated and annoyed that we managed to come back from 0-3 down against Chelsea away.
We knew we had away games to Arsenal and Chelsea and we have gained 4 points. A lot of people felt that Man City would surge ahead of us in this period and be 6-7 point ahead after we had played Tottenham. We should have won today, but a point is not a terrible result, and when you are 0-3 down its a great result. Hopefully we can beat Liverpool next week and put some pressure on City before they travel to Aston Villa.
shameful dat Howard webb gave a dubious second penalty 2 spoil d efforts of d players infact cfc played 11 against 12men