Sir Alex draws first blood

By MATT LAWTON

Last updated at 15:57 06 August 2007

A lively summer for left wingers, with Gordon Brown most prominent among them, continued here at Wembley yesterday when two wonderful goals from Ryan Giggs and Florent Malouda were matched by two fine performances from Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra.

Evra would have been a more worthy recipient of the man-of-the-match champagne handed out from the Royal Box to the smartly dressed Cole, but at least victory in an encounter that was settled by three consecutive penalty saves from Edwin van der Sar went to the right team.

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Manchester United were not that much more impressive than their great rivals but they had an air of confidence that made all the difference once the shoot-out arrived.

Trying to read too much

into this fixture has always proved a

futile exercise. It was only last

season that Andriy Shevchenko was

celebrating his first Chelsea goal

and look what happened to him.

But United seem to be in better

shape than a Chelsea side again

buckling under injuries.

Joe Cole's appearance at centre

forward demonstrated just how

desperate the situation has become

and the sight of Malouda limping off

after 50 minutes would have left

Jose Mourinho less than amused.

The Frenchman took his goal well,

not least because he first had to

shrug off the challenge of a halfhearted

Rio Ferdinand, but he hurt

his thigh in the process and now

joins a casualty list that stretches to

around 15 first-team players.

Given the opportunity to select

their strongest side, there is no

doubt Chelsea can trouble United.

Mourinho is determined to attack

with more width and flair — hence

the signing of Malouda — but he needs Didier Drogba positioned

between two wingers and he needs

John Terry at the back.

That his captain could miss the

opening month of the season with a

knee problem is a blow for Mourinho,

as the manager knows only

too well after struggling in his

absence last year. That he may have

to rely on Shaun Wright-Phillips —

in front of Steve McClaren yesterday

his crossing bordered on

embarrassing — is also a worry.

The immediate future looks much

brighter for United and not just

because Owen Hargreaves and

Carlos Tevez are expected to play in

midweek friendlies this week.

Those who secured a ninth Premier

League title for Sir Alex Ferguson in

May appear keen to make it 10

judging by their enthusiasm for an

essentially meaningless game.

Evra was outstanding, first on the

left side of midfield and then at left

back — so good that it is easy to see

why Gabriel Heinze is keen to move

to Liverpool. When Evra is fit,

Heinze will surely be on the bench.

United also have players missing,

of course. Paul Scholes was absent

yesterday and so, too, was Gary

Neville. But Ferguson has bought

well this summer and put his team

in the best possible position to

pursue the Premier League as well as that elusive second Champions

League title.

Both teams were guilty of trying to

intimidate referee Mark Halsey and

United's victory celebrations were

somewhat undermined by the lessthan-

sporting gesture Wayne

Rooney made to Chelsea fans. That

said, more than 80,000 spectators

did at least witness some competitive

football in the summer sun.

The match started slowly but it

soon gathered pace on a surface

that seemed to be significantly better

than it was when the sides met

in May's FA Cup Final. After a super

surge down the flank from Cristiano

Ronaldo, Giggs would have scored

sooner than he did had it not been

for a fine save by Petr Cech.

Michael Essien threatened for

Chelsea with a glancing header

soon after that, but Giggs struck his

first senior goal in 17 attempts at

Wembley in the 35th minute and so

eclipsed his efforts as an England

schoolboy international when he

went by the name of Ryan Wilson.

It was a marvellous finish, the

33-year-old Welshman meeting a

terrific cross from Evra with a firsttime

strike. 'With Ashley Cole positioned

on the line and Cech covering

the rest of the goal, he had to

put it in the corner,' said proud

manager Ferguson.

He would have

been disappointed with what then

followed, even if Malouda deserves

credit for the athleticism he displayed

in holding off Ferdinand. It

was a classic Ferdinand moment. A

lack of concentration. A lack of

commitment. The kind of crime he

so rarely commits when the stakes

are high but often creep into his

game when the pressure is off.

Rooney was then booked for

a reckless challenge on Cech and

Malouda disappeared at the start of

a second half most memorable for

the appearance of Nani for United

and Steve Sidwell for Chelsea.

The penalties brought a sense of

excitement to the conclusion, Van

der Sar making a mug of Claudio

Pizarro, Frank Lampard and the

hopeless Wright-Phillips.

The Dutchman's saves were all the

more remarkable for the fact that

he hardly came off his line. At least

Ferdinand put away the first United

penalty, while Michael Carrick and

Rooney followed with equal

aplomb.

The Chelsea staff who recently

won a penalty shoot-out against the

press in Los Angeles might have

proved more deadly, as Roman

Abramovich no doubt noted.

A promise to stop interfering has

apparently been made by the club's

Russian owner but after seeing the

staff bury their efforts in LA, he

might just suggest they show their

highly-paid charges how it's done.

Chelsea: Cech, Johnson, Carvalho, Ben Haim, Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Malouda, Joe Cole. Subs: Cudicini, Hilario, Sidwell, Pizarro, Sinclair, Diarra,

Worley.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Ronaldo, Carrick, O'Shea, Silvestre, Giggs, Rooney. Subs: Kuszczak, Nani, Pique, Fletcher, Bardsley, Martin, Eagles.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire)