© EuroFootball.com
On Tuesday, in the postponed matches of the 18th round of the English Premier League, London's Chelsea footballers defeated the league-leading Man Utd team in front of their own fans with a score of 2-1, moving up to fourth place in the tournament table.
Sir Alex Ferguson's proteges started the game more successfully and took the lead in the 29th minute when Petr Cech was forced to pull the ball from his own goal net after an amazing shot from Wayne Rooney from outside the penalty area.
The hosts had a good opportunity to equalize the match at the end of the first half, but thanks to the efforts of Edwin van der Sar and Nemanja Vidic, the 'Red Devils' maintained their fragile advantage before the break.
However, the 'Blues' equalized in the 54th minute with a strong shot from David Luiz, a newcomer to the Chelsea club, giving hope to Carlo Ancelotti's soldiers to win three points.
Luiz, who scored the goal, soon received a yellow card and then illegally stopped the opponents a few more times, but the referee Martin Atkinson spared the Brazilian national team player and did not send him off the field.
The high-paced match reached its climax in the 78th minute when the referee did not hesitate to award a penalty after Chris Smalling's foul in the penalty area against Chelsea's substitute defender Yuri Zhirkov, which was coolly converted by Frank Lampard - 2-1.
Clearly frustrated at the end of the game, Man Utd defender Vidic committed two consecutive fouls and rightfully received a red card, meaning he will have to miss the important Premier League match against Liverpool over the weekend.
The loss of the table leaders greatly pleased the London Arsenal players, who are four points behind the Man Utd team but have played one game less.
London Chelsea 2 - 1 Man Utd 29' [0 - 1] W. Rooney 54' [1 - 1] D. Luiz 79' [2 - 1] F. Lampard (from 11m penalty) 90' N. Vidic ("Man Utd") sent off from the field
