United Hold Chelsea in Goalless Draw

By David Hobbs
January 12 2005

Manchester United side did themselves no harm in traveling to Premiership table-toppers Chelsea, holding them to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in the Semi-Final of the Carling Cup. Surprisingly, this is the Red Devils' 3rd consecutive goalless draw.

United Hold Chelsea in Goalless Draw

Chelsea 0

Manchester United 0

A weakened Manchester United side did themselves no harm in traveling to Premiership table-toppers Chelsea, holding them to a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in the Semi-Final of the Carling Cup.

Surprisingly, this is the Red Devils' 3rd consecutive goalless draw following games against Tottenham Hotspur and Exeter City despite the return of frontmen Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney to the starting line-up.

Saha was a surprise inclusion into the XI, making his first appearance since injury that has kept the Frenchman out of action for a while. Rooney returned from a 3 match ban.

The team Ferguson decided to field was slightly stronger than fans anticipated, indicating he would like to make progress in the cup - something the Scotsman hasn't really showed in recent years.

John O'Shea also returned from the sidelines, making up the defence with Gabriel Heinze, Mikael Silvestre and skipper Phil Neville.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was the only noticeable inclusion to a near-full-strength Blues side, but was worthily replaced by Italian Carlo Cudicini, who has been linked with a switch to Old Trafford.

Damien Duff had the first real chance of the game, scaring Tim Howard with a long range effort that narrowly sailed over the American's wood-work.

Louis Saha had a controversial penalty decision turned down after being sandwiched by Chelsea players inside the box, leaving the incident a topic for debate. 

Forward Eidur Gudjohnsen had poked the ball in the back of the net soon after, only to watch it ruled out by the linesman.

England international midfielder had a goal-bound shot swooped off the line by the influential Gabriel Heinze to close proceedings in the first interval.

Both Tiago and Wayne Rooney had efforts saved by their opposing 'keepers early in the second-half, Tiago unleashing a shot whilst Wayne Rooney made Cudicini dive at full stretch to stop Rooney's snap-header.

Tim Howard showed a sign of nervousness later in the half, flapping substitute Dider Drogba's shot with Joe Cole picked up on the re-bound. Cole was unfortunate to see his shot fly just wide.

Louis Saha then again fluffed a free-header late into time and Chelsea seemed bolstered by the substitute appearance by new-boy Juri Jarosik. The Czech made an instant impact, testing Tim Howard.

But despite the efforts of both teams, the game resulted in a fair draw with the second leg at Old Trafford to play.

Final Score: Chelsea 0 - 0 Manchester United
Att: 41,492

Chelsea: Cudicini, Paulo Ferreira, Terry, Gallas, Bridge, Lampard, Makelele, Tiago, Cole, Gudjohnsen, Duff. Subs: Cech, Johnson, Kezman, Drogba, Jarosik

Manchester United: Howard, Phil Neville, Silvestre, O'Shea, Heinze, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Djemba-Djemba, Fortune, Saha, Rooney. Subs: Carroll, Smith, Miller, Scholes, Spector.

Refereed By: N Barry