Days after the Real Madrid defeat this was a perfect opportunity to get rid of the angst that had occurred after Tuesday night.
The big news on the team front was that Rooney and Hernandez were restored to the front line with Kagawa behind and Nani aiming to get over the red card from Tuesday night.
In terms of the game United starred in the game of two halves. A superb first half followed by a struggling second half. The first 11 minutes saw United go 2-0 up with a superb header from Hernandez which looped over Peter Cech following a superb ball from Carrick and then a Wayne Rooney free kick which drifted in directly to give Cech a shell shocked start.
Chelsea had a chance on the 23 rd minute when Lampard was presented with a chance on goal but the power didn't trouble De Gea. Moments later United had three opportunities to go three up. First was a cross by Nani which was met at the near post by Hernandez but his chance went over and a minute later a Evra cross was drilled in and Rooney shot well but Cech was equal but the rebound came back to him via David Luiz header and a superb save kept the third goal out.
Moses had a chance to reduce the arrears but he shot wildly and the frustration amongst the Chelsea players and fans was visible. The half for United ended with Nani being subbed for injury and Rooney delicate chip just went over the bar.
The second half started quietly and Chelsea then made two subs which saw Mikel and Hazard came on and this seem to spark Chelsea into life. Within 7 minutes of his arrival Hazard scored a curling effort into the corner of the net with De Gea well beaten and the game was on. Half way through the half a sweeping move from midfield saw Ramires run through and shoot home for the equaliser.
Chelsea were well on top and Mata and Ramires were dominating with the help of Hazard.
The last 10 minutes saw United hanging on Torres going close but the best chance fell to Mata who turned Evans easily but De Gea kept out the effort with his foot and deflected it around the post. De Gea had to keep out a barrage of shots in injury time as United struggled to get any foothold in this game.
The final whistle blew and United were relieved. The replay hasn't been sorted but a game against City at Wembley should be incentive enough to win.
Man of the match has to be David De Gea. A superb series of saves and the lad is growing in stature.
Next up for United is Reading at home.
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