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Gem said:
Just got back from the game, Alex was superb, out to prove a point I think - and he did. Top performance, you know you can rely on him.In all, we were the better team, should have won... Anelka was woeful (how did he miss that?!) and we missed Deco.

However, the gap hasn't closed, that is very important, extending it would have been a bonus, but they're no closer.
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Agreed. Alex was solid and my man of the match.

A shaky opening aside, we were the best side throughout and if it wasn't for some awful work in the final third we could have walked away with it.

They will be closer if/when they win their game in hand though...

 
Just a foot note who else thinks its really nice that our lads got involved in NONE of the backchat to the referee. Credit to Scolari for that,I'm warming to his press comments all the time for the honesty and integrity he shows. If we had 7 bookings we'd be slaughtered by the media not to mention the outrageous dive by Rolando, clearly a role model to kids for the 'worlds greatest player' :D

 
I agree with most people here, after the first 20 minutes we controlled the game and should have won it. Although I don’t think the first 20 minutes were that bad, two or three poor clearances and two or three sloppy passes, which Man U exploited, but we also had a good chance with Joe Cole before they scored. Shame Deco didn’t play I was looking forward to see how we handle top teams with Deco in the side.

Gem said:
However, the gap hasn't closed, that is very important, extending it would have been a bonus, but they're no closer.
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Yeah but we are not top anymore and worse of all we have the same points as Liverpool.

 
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Overall our finishing let us down. Even in the first half Cole had a great 1 on 1 chance. As soon as Drogba came on, we became more lively. I posted earlier in this thread about starting Drogba and Anelka to win the game. If Drogba was fit for 45 minutes, why not start him and play for 45 minutes when the score is even, rather than put him on in the second half to chase the game? Anelka tried hard, but his finishing was abysmal! We need another striker, no doubt about it.

On the positive side, we showed we can dominant the 'best team' in the country when we really want to play, and saved our home record once more.

 
Drogba definitely added some spark and was a handful for United sans Vidic.

I also really wanted to see Deco play today-Ballack and Lampard both have cannon shots, but neither really has that clever split pass in their toolbox.

 
BTW- here's a pretty detailed recap in case anyone missed the match

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Ruh Buh Juh said:
For once, Malouda actually played better than Joey. He was still poor, but Joey was pretty awful.
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Joe wasn't brilliant, but he was still 100% more useful than Malouda - who, lets face it, was only on the pitch 45 minutes!!

Joe missed two good chances, but at least he got in the position to have those chances with well timed runs. And he put in the best cross of the match for Anelka.

He'd get a 6 for me whereas Malouda was no more than a 4.

 
Joe Cole and Ballack are responsible for the goal we conceded.

On the first viewing I thought Bosingwa was caught out of position, but on seeing it again Bosingwa was marking Hargreaves out wide and he did everything right. It was Cole that stood still and watched Evra go past him, Boswinga had to come to try to pick up Cole's man and couldn't quite get there, and Evra was already goal side of him.

Even then we should still have been okay, but then it was Ballack's turn to be lazy and he didn't follow a run from Fletcher. Fletcher didn't get the ball, but Ashley had to come in and pick him up which left Park open.

It was a pretty poor goal to conceed. Our four defender did all that could be asked of them, but two of the midfielders let them down. If either made as much effort as the United players then that isn't a goal.

 
Taipan said:
Joe Cole and Ballack are responsible for the goal we conceded.On the first viewing I thought Bosingwa was caught out of position, but on seeing it again Bosingwa was marking Hargreaves out wide and he did everything right. It was Cole that stood still and watched Evra go past him, Boswinga had to come to try to pick up Cole's man and couldn't quite get there, and Evra was already goal side of him.

Even then we should still have been okay, but then it was Ballack's turn to be lazy and he didn't follow a run from Fletcher. Fletcher didn't get the ball, but Ashley had to come in and pick him up which left Park open.

It was a pretty poor goal to conceed. Our four defender did all that could be asked of them, but two of the midfielders let them down. If either made as much effort as the United players then that isn't a goal.
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I think you are right about Joe losing his man but you are being kind to Bosingwa with that summary.

A little more commitment in the challenge with Evra and there wouldnt have been an issue. Evra is about 3ft 6 but muscled his way past Bosingwa like he was a fluffy pillow. No way can i agree that he did what was asked of him.

 
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Also, FYI - the guy who sat two rows behind me, slightly to the right... Bosingwa is not Ashley Cole, stop shouting "DO HIM ASH" at him, his name is Jose. Fool.

 
I think if Boswinger was any stronger in the tackle he'd have conceded a penalty. Evra had got goal side of him and he was in no position to take the ball without collecting a peice of Evra as well. I don't think he was outmuscled, he pulled out of the tackle and rightfully so IMO.

 
bjd said:
I think you are right about Joe losing his man but you are being kind to Bosingwa with that summary.A little more commitment in the challenge with Evra and there wouldnt have been an issue. Evra is about 3ft 6 but muscled his way past Bosingwa like he was a fluffy pillow. No way can i agree that he did what was asked of him.
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I don't think you could fault him for commitment. They were matched for speed and strength but Evra had the power of momentum behind him. Bosingwa took the wrong option in trying to close him down, his challenge was very half-hearted because he knew with a strong challenge Evra would've gone down in the area like a sack of cards.

 
On a side note, why have the commentators already decided it is Bo-swing-a, when the 'w' quite clearly comes much later in his name?

If I hear Andy Gray say that and Ferrara is the same sentence, I might explode.

 
Tim said:
On a side note, why have the commentators already decided it is Bo-swing-a, when the 'w' quite clearly comes much later in his name?If I hear Andy Gray say that and Ferrara is the same sentence, I might explode.
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JT and Lamps have both referred to him as Boswinger in interviews.

 
Tim said:
On a side note, why have the commentators already decided it is Bo-swing-a, when the 'w' quite clearly comes much later in his name?If I hear Andy Gray say that and Ferrara is the same sentence, I might explode.
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Hehe, Fararararararar

 
I'm happy with a point, at least we didn't lose. I think the whole of the campus pub heard me when Kalou's goal went in.

Apart from the first 20 or some minutes, I think we played well but just lacked a cutting edge going forward. Bosingwa and Alex were great, and Mikel had another good game.

 
Chelsea say Deco is out for spprox. 2 weeks. Should be back in abround 10 days I hope...

 
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