sport

Fergie expects lively rematch

Sir Alex Ferguson expects another pulsating clash when Manchester United run out at Chelsea again on Wednesday in the Capital One Cup.

The Red Devils ended the Blues' unbeaten record in a controversial five-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

United extended their winning streak to five matches by winning their first Premier League game on Chelsea turf for 10 years.

Their 3-2 victory only came after two debatable decisions from referee Mark Clattenburg and his team of officials, however.

Clattenburg first showed Fernando Torres a second yellow for simulation, although replays showed he was clipped by Jonny Evans, and the referee's assistant then failed to notice that Javier Hernandez was offside when he tucked home the winner from Rafael's cross.

Tasty tackles flew in from both sides during the match and Ferguson had to be separated from Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo and assistant first-team coach Steve Holland after a series of heated exchanges on the touchline.

When asked if he anticipated a lively rematch on Wednesday in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup, the Scot replied with a smile: "Good luck to the referee!"

Ferguson felt his team deserved a bit of luck with the refereeing decisions on Sunday.

"It's always hard to come here and it's hard to get decisions here," he said.

"Over the last few years, there have been some shocking decisions against us and I think everyone knows that.

"But today, if we did get a little break, I think we deserved it."

Ferguson could not resist a dig at Torres, who he said went down too easily.

"Well, did he intend to dive?" Ferguson said.

"Jonny may have just caught him a little bit but you can either carry on running, which he could've done... But he chose to go down.

"He could've carried on and scored. That's what I can't understand."

The former Rangers forward added: "I would've never missed that chance. I would've taken it in my time. I would've never gone down.

"But he did go down - that's the issue - and he's already been booked. So it's his own fault."

The controversy surrounding the refereeing decisions was overshadowed last night after it emerged Chelsea had submitted a complaint to the Premier League that alleged Clattenburg used "inappropriate language" towards two of their players. On Sunday night, Clattenburg insisted he would fully co-operate with any investigation.

All the pre-match talk had been about whether Chelsea would be able to continue their excellent early-season form.

The early signs suggested the Blues were not up to the task.

David Luiz unwittingly put through his own goal to give United an early lead and then Robin van Persie took advantage of some slack marking to score the visitors' second after 12 minutes.

Chelsea hit back with goals either side of half-time from the excellent Juan Mata and Brazil midfielder Ramires, but Torres' dismissal, and that of Branislav Ivanovic, allowed United to claim the win courtesy of Hernandez's third goal in two games.

"I was glad to get to half-time, to be honest," said Ferguson, whose side are now second in the table, one point behind Chelsea.

"I thought we could've started the game a bit better in the second half but when they got the second goal, we started to play better.

"It was probably a wake-up call, to be honest with you.

"And, at that point, I was wanting to win to the game and I had Chicharito (Hernandez) warming up, and then they get a man sent off. and that consolidated that opinion to get him on."

what do you think?

3 comments

Ben Ralph

10:04am on 29/10/2012

Clattenburg had an absolute shocker. Totally ruined the game with some jawdropping decisions

Score: 3
2 replies

Steve Marshall

1:45pm on 29/10/2012

Absolutely disgusting Ben, clattenburg needs a kick up the backside, i think refs need a lesson in what's a dive and what's not, clattenburg's performance angers me and I'm not even a chelsea fan.

Score: 3

Will Lawrence

3:29pm on 29/10/2012

Well you two are both completely wrong. He got all the decisions 100% correct.

Score: 3

t.bulgin

6:56pm on 29/10/2012

If this is shown to be sour grapes then a 25 point penalty for chelsea is about right.

Score: 1

ruta rybakiene

12:26pm on 30/10/2012

Should have sent off Torres earlier for a foul on Clverley..