Eto’o only needed 49 minutes to score three goals, helping Chelsea lead 3-0 and seemingly deciding the fate of the match.
Man Utd had to wait until the second half of the second half to penetrate Chelsea’s well-organized defense system.
* Video of the main match
Eto’o, in an ecstatic evening, played a decisive role in helping Chelsea defeat Man Utd.
Man Utd’s ability to defend the throne has long been thought to be gone as they are constantly eight to 11 points behind top-ranked Arsenal.
Round 22
Saturday, January 18 Sunderland 2-2 Southampton
(Borini 32, Johnson 71 – Rodriguez 4, Lovren 31)Arsenal 2-0 Fulham
(Cazorla 57 x 62)Crystal Palace 1-0 Stoke
(Puncheon 51)Man City 4-2 Cardiff
(Dzeko 14, Navas 33, Yaya Toure 76, Aguero 79 – Noone 29, Campbell 90+3)Norwich 1-0 Hull
(Bennett 87)West Ham 1-3 Newcastle
(Williamson own goal 45 – Cabaye 16′ & 90+5, Remy 33)Liverpool 2-2 Aston Villa
(Sturridge 45, Gerrard 53 pens – Weimann 25, Benteke 36)
Sunday, January 19 Swansea 1-3 Tottenham
(Boney 78 – Adebayor 35 and 71, Chico own goal 53)Chelsea 3-1 Man Utd
(Eto’o 17, 45 x 49)
Monday, January 20 (local time; + 7 = Hanoi time)
West Brom – Everton 8pm
The opportunity for Man Utd to have a clean season now only exists in the Federation Cup.
For Chelsea, although Mourinho still denies the possibility of winning the championship, what his team and his team showed at Stamford Bridge yesterday still exudes the demeanor of a true candidate.
While Moyes had a headache trying to find a way to patch the hole left by the Van Persie – Rooney pair, yesterday Mourinho confidently placed Torres – the striker who had just scored in the 2-0 win over Hull last round – on the bench, to make room for
That goal came in the 17th minute when Eto’o received the ball on the right wing, beat Phil Jones to find an angle with a very flexible swing of his hips and finished with his right foot on the edge of the penalty area.
Mourinho (right) continued to maintain his unbeaten record when his team took on Man Utd at home.
With the pair of Ramires – David Luiz active in the middle of the field and the very good ability to keep the ball of the trio Willian – Oscar – Hazard, Chelsea almost controlled all developments on the field afterward.
This failure in the 37th minute became a turning point that drove the match in a completely unfavorable direction for Man Utd, because just eight minutes later, Chelsea doubled the score.
Riding on the excitement from the second goal, Chelsea gave Man Utd another fatal blow in the fourth minute of the second half.
Chelsea’s slackness then gave Man Utd a little more vitality and they took full advantage of that to shorten the score to 1-3 with Chicharito’s opportunistic strike in an offside trap situation in the 78th minute.
Januzaj alone cannot pull the entire weak Man Utd team forward, when he himself is very carefully taken care of by Chelsea.
The frustration of failure coming closer and closer seemed to make Vidic lose the alertness necessary for a captain.
Squad:
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Luiz, Willian (Matic 85′), Oscar (Mikel 67′), Hazard, Eto’o (Torres 78′).
Subs not used: Cole, Lampard, Mata, Schwarzer.
Yellow card: Luiz
Goals: Eto’o 17′, 45′, 49′
Man Utd: De Gea, Rafael Da Silva, Evans, Vidic, Evra (Smalling 61′), Jones, Carrick, Valencia, Januzaj, Young (Chicharito 56′), Welbeck.
Subs not used: Giggs, Lindegaard, Cleverley, Fletcher, Kagawa.
Yellow card: Young, Valencia
Red card: Vidic
Goal: Hernandez 78′
Referee: Phil Dowd
Naomi