CHELSEA TOPS MANCHESTER UNITED TO TAKE PREMIERSHIP LEAD

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Manchester United.  Off of a loss in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal matchup with Bayern Munich—in which they lost striker Wayne Rooney to injury—Man U has now lost the Premiership lead in a defeat to their arch rivals Chelsea.  They were thoroughly outplayed by Chelsea in the first half of Saturday’s game, but it took a controversial Deider Drogba goal late in the game to provide the final 2-1 margin of victory.
 
Soccer betting enthusiasts who backed Chelsea at +185 received a nice payout with their victory.  Takeback on the home team had been +150, with a draw priced at +225.  The 3 combined goals went OVER the posted total of 2’.  It was only the second loss of the season for Manchester United on their home field at Old Trafford.  The ‘Red Devils’ have a very impressive 14-1-2 home mark.
 
Chelsea struck first with Joe Cole’s goal 20 minutes into the game.  Ironically, contract talks between Cole and Chelsea had broken down earlier in the week and there’s a good deal of speculation that he could end up in a Manchester United jersey.    The visitors completely dominated play in the first half, and Manchester United was lucky to escape down by only one goal.

In the second half, Chelsea doubled their advantage late in the game on a controversial goal by substitute Deider Drogba.  Drogba took a pass from Salomon Kalou and drilled it into the net, though he was clearly offsides on the play.  The infraction wasn’t called, however, and Chelsea had what would prove to be an insurmountable 2-0 advantage.  Man U was able to get on the board just moments later as Park Ji-sung’s sharp centering pass deflected off of Federico Macheda and into the Chelsea goal.

Afterwards, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti suggested that Man U missed Wayne Rooney more than they’re letting on:

"They're not the same team without him. Rooney is a fantastic player who is difficult to replace with another player. Dimitar Berbatov is good but Rooney is totally different. Rooney can sometimes come back to receive the ball and use it for all the team and then he can attack in any direction. He is an unbelievable player.”

"It is not a good moment for United after losing to Bayern during the week and because they have lost a very important player. It's not easy for United to maintain their characteristic and momentum without Rooney. But they have the possibility to move on and I hope they get to the semi-final.''

Manchester United will play their second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Bayern Munich this week at Old Trafford.  They’ll continue their English Premier League campaign on Sunday on the road against Blackburn.  Chelsea will play at Aston Villa on Saturday.