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19 March 2024

Man Utd vs Chelsea: Who did Rooney really play for?

Published
By Football Correspondent with Agencies

Manchester United and Chelsea drew 0-0 in the Premier League on Monday as the action in the season's first big match failed to match the intrigue of the Wayne Rooney transfer saga that swirled throughout.

David Moyes began his first home match in charge of the champions by naming Chelsea target Rooney in his starting line-up, giving a clear message that his club's message of 'he is not for sale' still stood after two failed bids for the striker.

Chances for both sides were few and far between on a warm evening at Old Trafford as Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's decision to play much of the match without a recognised striker had little attacking impact and his defence held firm.

Rooney, in the unusual position of being cheered by both sets of fans, had a decent chance in the second half when his right-footed drive forced Petr Cech to dive to his right but the two title hopefuls were left to share the points.

"It's a great point away from home for us. Both midfields and attacks cancelled each other out a bit," said Chelsea captain John Terry.

"I think the result is fair...I told the players before the game: we play to win, but if we don't win, we don't lose," said Mourinho.

Moyes said: "I thought we played well, I'm disappointed we didn't get a goal from it. It was tough, Chelsea defended well."

FULL TIME

Manchester United were held to a goalless draw at home by Chelsea in the first big game of the Premier League despite an explosive performance from Wayne Rooney on Monday night at Old Trafford.

Mourinho's Chelsea moved a point clear of Liverpool at the top of the table after three games, while United climb to fourth after Moyes is forced to share a point in his first home game in charge.

United's only real shot at goal despite dominating possession came towards the end when Rooney's 25-yard strike from the centre was pushed out for a corner by Cech.

Chelsea had two attempts by Oscar blocked in the first half and from Cahill in the second.

Chelsea received two yellow cards (Kevin de Bruyne and Fernando Torres) on a night in which referee Martin Atkinson showed some leniency.

The match lacked the intensity with Rooney providing the much-needed spark with his all-round performance after starting for the first time this season.

90 + 3" - Van Persie's corner is cleared after some anxious moments

Azpilicueta comes on for Hazard.

90 + 3" Rooney earns a corner following a counter in the final minute of play.

90" Chelsea on the attack as three minutes of stoppage time are added.

88" Van Persie gets his best chance from close range buts hits into a wall of defenders.

87" Chelsea make second change as Mikel replaces Schurrle.

84" Play resumes after a slight delay as Evra needs treatment while Mikel is seen warming up.

82" Evra is down holding his neck after being at the receiving end from Vidic's elbow as they both go up to challenge Terry.

80" YELLOW card for Torres for a foul on Cleverly.

79" Giggs on replacing Welbeck as United make second change.

77" Rooney unleahes a 25-yard ripper forcing Cech to dive to his right to push out for a corner.

74" First corner for Chelsea fails to pressure De Gea.

72" Young puts Chelsea under pressure with a couple of crosses from the right with Cech scrambling to push away the second one.

71" Cole's appeal for a penalty is not given after tumbling inside the box.

69" Chelsea attempt to string together an attack with Torres and Hazard in the thick of it.

67" Foul by Ashley Young.

66" First United substitution as Ashley Young comes on for Valencia.

65" Rooney tries his luck from 30 yards out.

63" Torres gallops through before losing control of the ball inside the box.

62" Cleverley's right footed shot is blocked.

60" First change from Chelsea as Torres comes in for De Bruyne.

59" Cahill's fierce shot from the centre is saved by De Gea.

57" A foray on the right flank from Valencia is foiled.

55" Welbeck chips over after smart play from Rooney on the edge of the box.

54" Welbeck attempts to curl the ball in from long range with Van Persie running on the outside on the right.

52" Foul by Oscar on Welbeck.

51" Good long range strike from Hazard straight to De Gea.

50" Welbeck and Van Persie attempt to weave through the Chelsea who are rock solid.

48" Oscar threatens to break through on the counter before being stalled outside the box.

47" Welbeck gets a good ball from Rooney but is stifled by the Chelsea defence.

47" Torres is seen warming up.

46" United begin the second half with both teams not making any substitutions.

HALF TIME

Man Utd and Chelsea were also goalless at half-time the last time they played at Old Trafford in May. Chelsea won the match 1-0. (‏@premierleague)

45" One minute of added time ends an interesting first half in which Chelsea had two attempts at goal from Oscar blocked.

43" Oscar fires straight at De Gea from outside the box from a central position.

42" Van Persie almost gets to the ball in the box after a clever move by Rooney.

41" United are enjoying more of the possession which is at 58 per cent now.

38" Chelsea put up a ring of defence before Jones bounces back after falling awkwardly earlier to find Cleverly who fires over from 20 yards with a left-footed shot.

36" Terry holds his ground getting the better after going up for an aerial ball with Valencia.

34" Hazard to the rescue after Valencia dances around three Chelsea players on the right wing.

32" YELLOW for Kevin de Bruyne for a rough challenge on Van Persie.

31" Superb build-up play from Chelsea ends with De Bruyne failing to thread a pass into the box.

29" Hazard and Oscar are at the receiving end with Valencia getting away after a late sliding tackle,

28" Rooney bursts through and shoots tamely at Cech from the centre.

26" Ivanovic hands off the attacking Evra whose appeal for a foul is waved off.

24" Evra loops in a cross from the left and van Persie gets his head without any power.

22" Robin van Persie goes around Ivanovic on the left and shoots into the side netting.

21" Oscar shoots wide slicing past the post with a right footed shot.

19" A scrappy spell of play.

18" Chants of 'Rooney, Rooney' reaching a crescendo as United enjoy 57 per cent possession.

17" Vidic heads Oscar's cross right back to him, and then Ivanovic fires over from long range.

16" A ferocious Rooney cross from the right is headed away by Terry.

15" Foul on Van Persie from behind by Ashley Cole who escapes with a caution from Atkinson.

12" First corner for United. Van Persie's cross from the right is headed away by Terry.

10" Oscar's right footed shot from the edge of the box is saved by De Gea.

8" Welbeck and Rooney linking up well in midfield.

6" Ferdinand tries a through ball, but Antonio Valencia is caught offside.

5" Foul by Rooney who pressurises Ashley Cole and then jumps into the back of John Terry.

3" Rooney attack stifled by Cahill on the edge of the box after being fed by Valencia.

2" United make the first positive move on the right flank. Welbeck tracks back and wins the ball from Oscar.

1" Chelsea kick-off and retain possession aftert an early foray.

Both teams have come out of the tunnel and are lining up now for the handshakes.

From the @ManUtd Twitter account: 'Tonight, Old Trafford honours the lives of Jack Crompton, Brian Greenhoff and Ron Davies with a minute's applause.'

"He's a Manchester United player and he'll prove that tonight" - David Moyes on picking Wayne Rooney in his starting XI.

"I don't come with a defensive team. I play with 4 attacking players instead of 1 target man" - Mourinho explains his 'no striker' team selection to Sky Sports.

Manchester United are unbeaten in all eight Monday top flight matches against Chelsea (six wins, two draws).

Starting line-ups:

Manchester United

Goal: David De Gea
Defenders: Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Jones
Midfield: Cleverley, Carrick, Valencia,Welbeck
Forwards: Rooney, Van Persie

Substitutes:
Lindegaard
Smalling
Buttner
Anderson
Giggs
Young
Kagawa

Chelsea

Goal: Cech
Defenders: Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole
Midfield: Lampard, Ramires, Bruyne
Forwards: Oscar, Hazard, Schurrle

Substitutes
 Schwarzer
 Azpilicueta
 Essien
 Mata
 Mikel
 Torres
 Lukaku

Manchester United manager David Moyes boldly selected Wayne Rooney to start in Monday's Premier League showdown against Chelsea, who have made two unsuccessful bids for the unsettled striker.

Rooney was the focus of much of the attention prior to the match at Old Trafford, with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho blaming Moyes for making the 27-year-old England star feel unwanted.

Rooney made a cameo appearance in United's 4-1 win at Swansea City last weekend after missing the whole of pre-season through injury, but Moyes decided he was ready to start in the Scot's first home game as manager.

The former Everton striker replaced Ryan Giggs in the only change to the team that started at the Liberty Stadium.
Mourinho made the surprising decision to start without a recognised striker, with Fernando Torres and Romelu Lukaku on the bench and Demba Ba not included in the squad.

In total there were two changes to the team that beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday, with Kevin De Bruyne and new signing Andre Schuerrle coming into the side in place of Ba and Juan Mata.

Chelsea can go six points clear of United with victory, although they will have played a game more.
 

Stat attack: Frank Lampard has missed two of his last three penalties after scoring 10 in a row.

"It's David Moyes' first game at the stadium so we're expecting quite a hostile atmosphere."  John Terry to Sky Sports.

Expert tweets: I'm looking forward to this tonight!! Would be great to be in the ground but delighted that at 7 MNF starts - Manchester United v Chelsea G.Neville ‏@GNev2 now

Pitch looking good
Robbie Savage ‏@RobbieSavage

Nemanja Vidic has told the United Review in an exclusive interview. "Chelsea are always a tough team to play against. They have a new manager and some new signings, they're excited as well for their season. But I'm looking forward to it to test myself, to test the team and see where we are at the moment. We're all looking forward to it."

"It's always nice to walk out at Old Trafford in front of 76,000 people, our fans," he adds. "I believe it will be a great atmosphere and it's a night game as well - that always makes the atmosphere even better.

Stat attack: David Moyes vs Jose Mourinho in Premier League: The two have met six times, with Moyes losing 4 and drawing twice.

The two big decisions that Manchester United manager David Moyes and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho face are likely to be the key one’s in deciding tonight’s game.

Play Wayne Rooney? Play Fernando Torres?

Or Kagawa and Lukaku?

Rooney in the hole just behind Robin Van Persie with a point to prove to both, Moyes and Mourinho might finally get his ‘big game’ moment.
Torres once destroyed Nemanja Vidic and then, in a later game, missed an open goal.

So it is a ‘big game’ moment for him as well. One that could define his career.

United are carrying quite a few injuries.

Rafael (hamstring), Nani (groin), Ashley Young (ankle) and Javier Hernandez (hamstring) .

On the Blues’ side, Brazilian defender David Luiz may be a doubt because of a hamstring problem.

Facts of the matter

Chelsea have won 6 of their last 7 matches in EPL

Man Utd at home: have won 14 of last 15 EPL games

Man Utd have scored at least 2 goals in last 3 EPL matches

Chelsea have scored at least 2 goals in 9 of last 10 EPL games

Mind Games, Mourinho 1- Moyes 0

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has told Manchester United they will harm the Premier League if they refuse to sell striker Wayne Rooney to a domestic rival.

"That old-fashioned mentality of 'I don't sell players to the same country' doesn't help the market and doesn't help the players," he said, in comments reported by several British newspapers on Sunday.

"You see in Italy, it happens every season without any problem. The player wants to move from Milan to Inter, from Inter to Milan, from Roma to Juventus, from Juventus to Inter, and they do this all the time.

"From the big ones I think only (Francesco) Totti stayed all his life (at Roma). (Andrea) Pirlo -- Inter, Milan, Juventus.
"Sometimes you push players abroad when you should be interested in keeping them in your league, because when you keep players in your league, you are contributing to make your league the best league.

"So when you want to sell and you are pushing the players abroad, I think you are giving the wrong contribution to the league where you are."
He cited examples from his first spell at Chelsea, between 2004 and 2007, when both Arjen Robben and William Gallas were allowed to leave the club.

"We had Robben unhappy, we sold him to Real Madrid because he wanted so much to go to Real Madrid," Mourinho said.
"We had William Gallas unhappy, we sold William Gallas to Arsenal."