It was billed as Match of the Day, and quite rightly so. Top drawer, box office superstars of football's elite from two of the top three best footballing sides in England locked horns last night. High octane, attacking verve and dizzying skills were written all over it.
And the players did not disappoint. It was a cracker of a match. This morning's papers ought to have been awash with praises and superlatives for RVP's superb marksmanship or Mata's beautiful curler of a freekick or the sheer roller-coaster of dominance shown by United and Chelsea in turns.
Sadly, that was not the case. Instead, all the papers, blogs, tweets, online editorials and articles were talking about one man only.
Him:
United started the game flying, racing to a 2-0 lead through an own goal by David Luiz and then a superbly taken first-time shot from RVP after some fine work by Valencia down the right flank. Chelsea slowly awoke from their slumber and made amends. Firstly, a freekick awarded after Rooney had hacked down a mazy Hazard run was promptly rewarded through Juan Mata, who showcased how to exquisitely bend a classy freekick around the United wall and just out of De Gea's reach. 2-1 to United going into halftime.
After the break, Chelsea came out stronger, building up play with intricate passes by the sumptuous trio of Hazard-Mata-Oscar and were promptly rewarded with a forceful Ramires header from a Mata to Oscar to back to the six yard box cross.
With the game delicately balanced at 2-2, it was anything goes. United stepped up their gear and begun their customary deadly counter-attacks whilst Chelsea ebbed and flowed their way towards a winner. It was nervy, it was exciting. Both sets of fans was poised for a nail-biting finish. For the neutrals, it was great entertainment. Good football, lots of goals and now a possible race to a winning goal had beckoned.
Enter Mark Clattenburg. First, he gave a straight red to Ivanovic for a clumsy trip on Ashley Young.
As a Chelsea fan, it would have been easy to claim that Ivanovic was clumsily trying to avoid Young whilst the wily United winger had (as usual) made a meal out of any minimal contact. However, in all objectivity, it was perhaps a cruel but justified red. As the last defender, any contact to your opponent and the goal is deemed as a denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity. So whilst it may have been a tad harsh, it was probably a decision most other referees would have taken as well.
However, Mark's 2nd big contribution to United came at the expense of El Nino, who had been having a busy yet non-prolific afternoon thus far. Admittedly, Torres does come with a reputation for being a diver (plus he's Spanish), but when Johnny Evans left a leg trailing against Nando in full flight, majority (including Evans himself) thought that a foul (and perhaps a caution) would be given in Chelsea's favour. Horror turned to shock turned to disgust when he proceeded to give Torres a second yellow for play-acting, which meant Torres was off.
With 10 men against 11, Chelsea still may have been able to pull off a draw or perhaps even snatch a late winner. But once reduced to 9 men, the game was essentially over. No team stands a chance when they're outnumbered by 2 whole players. Especially more so against United.
From then on, the football match ended and the farce began. Players from both sides began losing control with Obi Mikel, Ramires, Ashley Cole and David Luiz fortunate to still be playing after getting into questionable scraps with United players. Rooney too had looked to be boiling and had to be taken off after getting cautioned for a meaty challenge.
Clattenburg's man-of-the-match performance was capped with a brilliant award of a goal to United when substitute Chicarito poked at a loose ball at close range when he was clearly in an offside position.
Missiles and abuses were hurled from the terraces and scenes at the Bridge descended into chaos as the game entered its final stretch. The night ended with a controversial 3-2 win for United and everyone felt robbed of watching how a great contest of footballing skills would have ended in its natural course.
In all honesty, it was still anybody's game at 2-2. I wouldn't have been surprised if United would have mustered up yet another thrilling-yet-customary United late winner and took all 3 points back to Manchester with great pride and dignity.
But we will never be able to answer that question now, thanks to Mark. The question has become moot. Instead, thanks to the bumbling ineptitude of one of the game's most card-happy refs, this game will always be remembered as "The One Which United Won against 9 Men and an Offside Goal".
To clarify, this post is in no way trying to steal any glory from a United win. A win is still a win. This post is also not a bumbling justification for Chelsea's first loss of the season. They had played badly in the first half and did not seem cohesive between attack and defence. A loss would have been deserved.
This post, however, is interested in pointing out a blindingly obvious observation only: that bad refereeing decisions cost the fans and players more than just the mere 3 points. Too much attention nowadays is given to stopping racism, play-acting, disrespect, dirty tackles, etc., that we sometimes forget that for the players to respect the game, perhaps the governing bodies should first keep its house in order by ridding itself of refereeing buffoons such as Clatternburg. It would be a shame (and indeed an embarrassment) to the FA if Mark Clattenburg is allowed to officiate another match again. It is time for the FA to show it means business by throwing the rule book at Clatternburg.
Usually when Chelsea take on United, one can always be guaranteed of an explosive match of deafening proportions. Last night, the only sounds to be heard at the Bridge were the clatterings of a bumbling match official. Let's hope this will be last of squeaks that can be heard on any footballing pitch from now on.
