SOCCER/English League Cup semi-final/ Manchester United 1; Chelsea 2: Jose Mourinho brought a £240 bottle of wine to Old Trafford but it might as well have been a glass of hemlock that he handed to Alex Ferguson.
The Portuguese is poison to his rivals and the Manchester United manager had just seen his team beaten 2-1 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-final by Damien Duff's remarkable free-kick in the 85th minute.
Chelsea go on to a meeting with Liverpool in Cardiff on February 27th but Mourinho may be more pleased at extending a record of success over United that began in last year's Champions League.
That was the true meaning of a result preserved in the closing moments by Wayne Bridge's goalline clearance of a Rio Ferdinand header and Petr Cech's superb save off a Cristiano Ronaldo drive.
This was more of a battle for power than for a dispute over a lesser tournament. It may be a pipe dream to believe that defeat in a match such as this will undermine the whole season for a Chelsea team that, among other things, contains three men tough enough to have won the European Cup, but Ferguson must take hope wherever he can find it.
Though Ferguson had never lost a domestic semi-final with United, he seldom treats this competition seriously enough even to trouble with battling through to the last four. This occasion was always bound to be the exception and the anguish was deeply felt around most of the stadium when Frank Lampard opened the scoring after half-an-hour.
Wayne Rooney was on the bench but this may still have been the best available outfield line-up that can be concocted by Ferguson at present. Mourinho, just as predictably, made no concessions.
Chelsea enjoyed an opening in the first minute when Arjen Robben spun away from Gabriel Heinze to send in a cross that Lampard snapped wide. Otherwise the signs pointed to a protracted struggle.
United, with the ebullience conferred by home advantage, did make better use of the wings for a while. Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs were eager runners but others, too, were keen to explore the flanks. Louis Saha burst inside from the left but after avoiding Claude Makelele was stopped by William Gallas.
The manner in which Chelsea muster cover is the key to their consistency and United compared poorly with them 11 minutes later. Lampard initiated a move in his own half and then re-entered it to pass to Didier Drogba. With Gary Neville preoccupied by the striker, Ferdinand failed to detect danger. The Chelsea midfielder burst into a gap to collect Drogba's return ball before shooting across Tim Howard into the far corner.
A lead will encourage any side but its impact on Chelsea is particularly significant. These players know they have not been beaten by any English club this season once they have gone in front.
The remainder of the first half showed Chelsea manoeuvring with greater ease. United's hope of an equaliser had lain with the referee.
John Terry was a little imprecise with a chested clearance and Wayne Bridge, chasing after it, made contact with Quinton Fortune but the referee Rob Styles saw an accidental collision.
Ferguson, all the same, could not dwell on that while his side's influence over the action was still so negligible. Cech had needed to take the ball under pressure occasionally but no save was demanded of him in the first-half. While United do not relish being 11 points adrift of Chelsea in the Premiership, the difficulties of the season have aroused the passion of their support.
The crowd laid on bedlam after the interval. Tactical acumen and poise were shoved aside. Ferguson replaced Fortune with Rooney. The teenager soon found Roy Keane for a shot from an angle that flew wide but still Cech had no cause to dive.
While United were to equalise, this semi-final could have been ended before they did so. Howard's life was not easy and, with 63 minutes gone, he had to hurl himself to tip a Lampard drive round the post.
After 66 minutes Drogba made his way on to the left before rolling across a low ball that, following a dummy by Tiago, set Robben up for a finish that was blocked by the goalkeeper's leg. Two minutes later Neville hit a high pass down the right and Giggs, with his first touch, volleyed his lob so perfectly that it cleared the 6ft 5in Cech and still dipped into the net.
Mourinho reacted with restraint at the final whistle. There was no victorious charge down the touchline to compare with the last time he brought a side to Old Trafford as manager of Porto.
MANCHESTER UTD: Howard, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Fortune (Rooney 59 mins), Giggs, Saha. Subs not used: Phil Neville, Brown, O'Shea, Ricardo. Booked: Keane. Goal: Giggs 67.
CHELSEA: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Makelele, Lampard, Tiago, Robben (Cole 90 mins), Drogba (Gudjohnsen 68 mins), Duff (Jarosik 87 mins). Subs not used: Cudicini, Huth. Booked: Makelele. Goals: Lampard 29, Duff 85.
Referee:
R Styles (Hampshire).
