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Sports

Monday August 10, 2009

Chelsea edge United on penalties to win feisty Shield match

WEMBLEY: Salomon Kalou scored the winning penalty yesterday as Chelsea beat Man­chester United 4-1 in a shootout to clinch the Com­munity Shield in Carlo Ancelotti’s first competitive match in charge.

The traditional curtain raiser to the English season is rarely a spectacle, but on this occasion was hotly contested with a heated conclusion.

Heart-stopping strike: Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney equalising in the last minute against Chelsea during their Community Shield match yesterday at Wembley. — Reuters

With the match level at 1-1 in the 71st minute, United’s Patrice Evra was lying on the ground after being fouled by Michael Ballack when Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard made it 2-1.

The goal sparked a furious reaction from United players who felt the game should have been stopped. The Premier League champions, however, equalised in stoppage time when Wayne Rooney broke free.

But it was FA Cup winner Chelsea who dominated the shootout.

“This is sweet,” Lampard said. “It feels nice to make a winning start to the season.

“After that last goal we could have been on a downer but we didn’t let out heads drop.”

This was United’s first competitive match since losing the Champions League final to Barcelona in May and after an off-season of upheaval as Alex Ferguson prepared for his 23rd campaign in charge.

Ferguson started with Ben Foster in goal, giving him a chance to impress England coach Fabio Capello. Foster was tested inside two minutes when Didier Drogba struck from 20 metres.

The Red Devils are still reeling from Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez being lured away from Old Trafford in big-money moves. Ultimately, United’s season is likely to hinge on how effectively Wigan’s Antonio Valencia can replace Ronaldo, who was sold to Real Madrid for a record £80mil.

The Ecuador winger only played the final half hour, replacing the injured Nani, who started on the left flank and was causing problems for Chelsea right back Branislav Ivanovic.

The Portugal winger took just 10 minutes to find the target, cutting inside from the left past Ivanovic and unleashing a fierce shot past Petr Cech.

The Red Devils could have doubled their lead in the 16th when Wayne Rooney headed the ball back to Park Ji-sung on the six-metre box, but the South Korean’s effort was blocked by Cech, who also denied Dimitar Berbatov minutes later.

Chelsea then began to assert themselves with Florent Malouda shooting wide and Michael Essien heading over. The equaliser came in the 52nd when Lampard won possession in the United penalty area and picked out Malouda and a chipped effort was only half cleared by Foster who was lightly injured in a clash with Didier Drogba. Ricardo Carvalho then headed the loose ball into the unguarded net.

“That was a poor goal from our point of view and we should have defended it better,” Ferguson said. — AP

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