Chelsea Play Well, but Suffer a 1-3 Loss Against Manchester United, while Tottenham Rejoice After a Resounding Home Win.

Well, Super Sunday has come and gone, with quite a few electrifying matches in the form of the long-awaited Chelsea-Manchester United matchup, as well as Liverpool-Tottenham, Manchester City-Fulham, and Stoke-Sunderland, all of them having four goals scored per game.

Torres attempts a bicycle kick in today's match, but to no avail.

First off, before I get into Chelsea - Manchester United, I'm going to discuss the catastrophe (depending on which side you support) that was Liverpool against Tottenham this morning. When I made my prediction of Liverpool taking home the win, I did not count on the addition of the injured defenders Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, as well as the flying start that Tottenham had at the beginning of the game. Right from the get-go, Tottenham dominated the Liverpool side. They constantly sent balls down the left for Gareth Bale, who's pace was unstoppable. Both Agger and Skrtel attempted to mark him, but to no avail. He managed to get around them almost every time, and his great pace and work ethic allowed for a great number of crosses, which culminated in a few goals. The few times that Liverpool did get possession they often ended up passing it back to their keeper, Pepe Reina. Both Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel received two yellow cards, which forced Livepool to end the match with nine men. While Adam's second yellow is questionable, both players are very physical, and the tackles were unnecessary. In the 7th minute, Luka Modric scored a beautiful goal that hit the bottom of the crossbar and ended up in the top corner. I bet Daniel Levy is very pleased with himself for keeping him, after that one. During the play leading up to the goal, Daniel Agger's groin and rib injuries became aggravated and he was substituted in the 27th minute. In the 28th, Charlie Adam received his (questionable) second yellow, and was sent off. Near the end of the first half, Liverpool started to settle down and play slightly better, although Skrtel, Coates, and Suárez all received yellows. Their defense managed to hold off Tottenham's attacks, and at halftime the score-line was still 1-0. In the second half, after Skrtel received a second yellow and was sent off in the 63rd, Tottenham came out firing on all cylinders against the 9-man side. The first came from Defoe in the 66th, then two more from Adebayor in the 68th and the 90th. At the end of the game, Tottenham had taken 25 shots, while Liverpool had only taken 3. The game ended 4-0, with Tottenham finishing with a very well-deserved three points.
FINAL SCORE: Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool

MATCH STATISTICS:

                                             Tottenham             Liverpool

Ball Possession (%)                   55                               45

Shots (on target)                      25(9)                            3(1)

Corners                                      4                                 1

Crosses                                     20                                9

Fouls Committed                       14                                9

Yellow Cards                              1                                 5

Red Cards                                   0                                 2

Offsides                                      3                                 4

Now then, onto Chelsea-Manchester United. If you're a Chelsea fan, you might want to look away - it does get a bit depressing at times. Early mistakes by the linesmen (and lack of coverage by Chelsea defense) allowed for two offside goals by Manchester United, with Chris Smalling's header in the 8th minute, followed by Nani's blistering drive from long-range in he 37th. In the 45th minute, a few deflections in the Chelsea box allow the ball to bounce right to the feet of Rooney, who makes no mistake with an open net to make it 3-nil at halftime. However, André Villas-Boas must have given an amazing pep talk during the break, because Chelsea came back with Fernando Torres scoring an excellent goal in the 46th minute. After a nerve-wracking penalty miss by Rooney in the 57th, the game ends 3-1 in favour of Manchester United at Old Trafford.

However, the game was not as one-sided as the score-line might make you think. In my opinion, Chelsea were actually the better team this morning. Chelsea led the game in shots, shots on target, corners, and crosses, as well as second-half possession. It was unfortunate that a few mistakes allowed the score to be 3-1. It could have just as easily been 3-2 for Chelsea.

I was pretty close with my lineup predictions, with just one or two minor changes for each team:

                                              De Gea

Smalling (Valencia) ------ Jones ---------------- Evans ---------------- Evra

     Nani ------------ Anderson (Carrick) --------- Fletcher ----------- Young

                       Rooney ---------------- Chicharito (Berbatov)

___________________________________________________________

                 Mata ----------- Torres ----------- Sturridge (Lukaku)

Lampard (Anelka) ---- Meireles (Mikel) ------- Ramires

        Cole ----------- Terry ----------- Ivanovic --------- Bosingwa

                                      Cech

MANCHESTER UNITED BENCH: Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Fabio.

CHELSEA BENCH: Turnbull, David Luiz, Romeu, Malouda.

NOTABLE CHELSEA PLAYERS:
- Fernando Torres: I don't quite know what to make of him. His consolation goal in the 46th minute was very welcome, but he missed an open-net opportunity to make it 3-2 after finding his way around De Gea and sending his shot wide of the open net. Earlier in the game, he also couldn't manage to score on a breakaway, sending his shot wide. While he did break his scoring duck in style, missing those shots can't be good for his confidence. Worked hard for the ball though, and is definitely showing signs of getting back on form.

- Nicolas Anelka: Immediately changed the game when he was came on at halftime by assisting Torres' goal with an excellent pass.

- Juan Mata: Once again he played an impressive game, taking a good shot on net and sending in excellent crosses and through-balls. When AVB said that nobody's job on the starting eleven is safe, I don't think that Mata needs to worry very much. Every performance that he's made for the club has been excellent.

- Ashley Cole: Unfortunately, Cole could not find a method of keeping Nani in check, and almost gave up a penalty after he tackled Chicharito in the box. He was very lucky not to have been shown a yellow or a red for his challenge.

- José Bosingwa: While he connected well with Torres and did well to get forward on the attack, he also gave up a penalty with a late challenge on Nani in the box.

- Ramires: As usual, worked very hard and had excellent stamina during the match, but unfortunately could not score on either of his close-range shots.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
The game started off at a very quick pace, with the first goal coming in the 8th minute. A free kick taken by Ashley Young found the head of the unmarked Chris Smalling, who was a tad offside to make it 1-nil for the home side. In the 37th minute, two players (one of them being Nani) were in an offside position, and Nani came back to receive the ball (although it looked that he was still offside when the ball was kicked). He then drifted through the right side of the field, and blasted a 25-yard screamer which went inside of the far post. 2-0. Just before halftime, John Terry worked hard in the box to try and clear the ball, but it took quite a few deflections, ricocheted off of Nani, and landed at the feet of Wayne Rooney, who extended his scoring streak from eight goals (in five matches) to nine. It was at this point in the game that I turned off my TV in a state of defiance and denial (although the only things I were missing were half-time commercials). After the break, Chelsea came out rejuvenated. Anelka replaced Lampard, and immediately assisted a duck-breaking goal by Fernando Torres, which was chipped over De Gea. After many elaborate victory dances and summersaults (which, one arm injury later, I realized I don't know how to do), I watched as Torres then showed signs of his old Liverpool form when he managed to get around David De Gea, only to send his shot wide of the open net. I actually fell off of my couch at this point, which my friend Daniel, who was watching with me, can attest to. Two yellow cards were awarded to Ramires and John Terry in the 49th and 56th minute, respectively. In the 57th minute, José Bosingwa fouled Nani in the penalty box, and Wayne Rooney stepped up to take the penalty, hoping to increase his streak to ten goals in five games. However, during his run, he slipped on the grass and his shot went wide of the post. Every Chelsea fan in the world breathed a huge sigh of relief after that one. After a number of substitutions by both teams, which featured Romelu Lukaku, John Obi Mikel, Carrick, Valencia, and Berbatov coming on, Manchester United received two yellows to Valencia and Fletcher. The game ended, exciting until the end, 3-1 in favour of Manchester United.

FINAL SCORE: Manchester United 3-1 Chelsea

MATCH STATISTICS:

                                        Manchester United        Chelsea

Ball Possession (%)                   54                               46

Shots (on target)                      12(5)                            21(8)

Corners                                      4                                10

Crosses                                     16                                21

Fouls Committed                       11                               12

Yellow Cards                              2                                 3

Red Cards                                   0                                 0

Offsides                                      2                                 0

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

OTHER MATCHES:

Sunderland 4-0 Stoke City

Manchester City 2-2 Fulham