Fireworks as Chelsea take their revenge

Thursday 1 November 2012

Chelsea avenged their bitter Barclays Premier League defeat to Manchester United in some style on another night when the Capital One Cup offered up a thrilling tie.

Daniel Sturridge rounds Anders Lindegaard to give Chelsea the lead in extra time. Picture: Reuters

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Steve Nailor at Stamford Bridge

Arsenal had overturned a four-goal lead to knock out Reading on Tuesday night, but these two looked capable of surpassing that 12-goal feast but in the end the enthralled supporters had to settle for nine.

United were in a position to pile on the misery for the European champions with a 3-2 fourth-round victory three days after ending their 10-year wait for a league win in west London, in the most controversial manner imaginable.But Eden Hazard scored a penalty with the last kick of normal time before Daniel Sturridge and Ramires completed an amazing comeback just 24 hours after Arsenal's astonishing 7-5 win at Reading.Like Tuesday, defending was nowhere to be seen as United led three times through Ryan Giggs, Javier Hernandez and Nani and Chelsea hit back with a David Luiz penalty and Gary Cahill header.Giggs also scored an extra-time consolation from the spot for United as the Mark Clattenburg saga was briefly forgotten.Roberto Di Matteo resisted the temptation to rest the two players at the centre of the current storm, John Obi Mikel and Juan Mata among only six survivors in the starting line-ups from Sunday's match.It had all started tamely enough, but the Luiz penalty taken in front of the United fans, sparked just the kind of scenes the fixture did not need. A firework or flare was thrown into the penalty area, while a supporter in the away end invaded the pitch and returned to the stand before he could be caught.The United fans disgraced themselves again by letting off another flare as they retook the lead two minutes before the break.The 6000 United fans mercilessly taunted their opponents throughout about both the Clattenburg saga and the John Terry scandal, briefly unfurling a banner which read "Clattenburg: Referee, Leader, Legend" and engaging in several chants, including "Justice for Clattenburg".But it was Chelsea who would have the last laugh when Sturridge and then Ramires took the tie beyond United in extra time despite Giggs's late riposte.Sturridge, so often a peripheral figure at Stamford Bridge since his move from Manchester City in 2009, could not disguise his delight. "It's great. It's important that we came out here with the right attitude because the manager criticised us for not starting well enough [on Sunday]," he said."It's just about putting a smile on the fans' faces again because I feel that they were disappointed after the weekend."It was Sturridge's first start of the season with di Matteo electing to start Fernando Torres each time."I've been out of the starting positions so I didn't feel as sharp in front of goal. I'm delighted I scored but I know I need to get sharper. I'm really glad the manager gave me the chance up front today, that's all I've wanted throughout my Chelsea career. "I'm really happy that he's put faith in me and, hopefully, he'll do it again."

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Fireworks as Chelsea take their revenge

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