Blues and United play out lacklustre draw
Kalou came close to breaking the deadlock
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Wednesday, 09, May 2007 10:58
Chelsea and Manchester United played out a lacklustre 0-0 draw ten days before they meet in the FA Cup final having fielded weakened sides for the encounter at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues gave the newly-crowned champions a guard of honour as they walked out before the match but very few of the key figures in United's title-winning side were in the starting line-up.
With the title already decided, the game failed to ignite - though there was still plenty for referee Graham Poll to deal with as the two sides clashed throughout the match.
There were few shooting opportunities in the first half but the best of them fell to United full-back Gabriel Heinze who dragged his shot wide of the mark.
The main talking point of the first half came when Jon Obi Mikel made a rash challenge on United youngster Chris Eagles after Alan Smith had left the Nigerian infuriated by a late tackle.
Mikel was booked for the tackle and was replaced by Joe Cole at half-time to prevent him from being suspended for the FA Cup final.
The Red Devils were unlucky not be awarded a penalty when Eagles was brought down by Michael Essien after 56 minutes.
Referee Poll decided there had been no infringement and the midfielder showed his displeasure by scything down Shaun Wright-Philips moments later.
The match was beginning to descend into a bad tempered affair and when Jose Mourinho made his feelings clear to Poll the referee sent the Chelsea boss to sit behind the players' dug-out.
After this the Blues gained the ascendancy and Salomon Kalou and Lassana Diarra forced Tomasz Kuszczak into exemplary saves with two thirds of the game gone.
The Blues came close towards the end of the match when Israeli striker Ben Sahar saw his shot cleared off the line by Kieran Lee but the game finished all-square as both sides kept one eye on the FA Cup.