Red Rebels: The New Manchester United

"New Manchester United have made the change. Drogba is on for the injured Beckham, and Mourinho has completely reshaped the side," Martin Tyler said as the teams emerged for the second half. "He's clearly decided that the only way back into this match is to put Chelsea under far greater attacking pressure."

Andy Gray nodded.

"And with a two-goal lead, Ancelotti has gone the other way. Chelsea will be happy to protect what they have, stay compact and make the Red Rebels take the risks."

He studied the formation on the screen.

"The gamble is obvious. Essien is now effectively the only holding midfielder. We all know what he's capable of, but Chelsea have Joe Cole, Lampard, Deco, Verón and Emerson operating through that area. Can one man really deal with all of them?"

Chelsea kicked off.

Almost immediately, they tried to find out.

Joe Cole collected the ball on the left and attempted to advance, but Maicon pressed him aggressively and forced him backwards. Cole moved the ball inside towards Deco, who was arriving through the middle.

Essien had already anticipated it.

He stepped across, reached the ball first and drove it clear.

The clearance travelled deep into Chelsea's half.

Drogba backed into Stam, held his ground and flicked the ball into Kaká's path.

Kaká accelerated onto it.

One touch.

Then another.

He shifted the ball towards the right, where Messi was already sprinting beyond Wayne Bridge.

The 17-year-old reached the byline and crossed first time.

Villa's movement dragged Cannavaro towards the near post.

The ball travelled beyond both of them.

Ronaldo arrived at the far post.

Paulo Ferreira was tight behind him, trying to disrupt his balance, but Ronaldo somehow hooked his leg around the ball and directed it towards goal.

From that distance, Hildebrand had almost no chance.

The net shook.

1-2.

"The Red Rebels are back in it!"

Tyler's voice rose above the explosion of noise inside the stadium.

"Forty-eight minutes, and their first proper attack of the second half produces a goal!"

Gray was equally impressed.

"That is exactly what Mourinho wanted. Essien wins the ball, Drogba gives them the first outlet, Kaká drives forward, Messi attacks the flank, and Ronaldo finishes at the far post."

"Chelsea never had time to reorganise."

Ronaldo raced away with his arms spread wide, gliding across the pitch in celebration.

As he passed the dugout, Mourinho was already charging along the touchline.

The two slapped hands without slowing down.

Ronaldo continued towards the stands, stopped in front of the supporters and cupped a hand to his ear.

The response was deafening.

More than fifty thousand voices answered at once.

The entire stadium seemed to come alive.

Messi reached Ronaldo first.

The two embraced, quickly joined by Kaká, Villa and Drogba.

The Red Rebels had spent weeks searching for belief.

For the first time in a long while, it seemed to have returned all at once.

Chelsea were briefly unsettled.

Ancelotti immediately moved to the edge of his technical area, calming his players and demanding greater discipline.

Chelsea tried to re-establish their passing game.

Again and again, however, they ran into Essien.

The Ghanaian was everywhere.

Whenever Deco drifted centrally, Essien followed the danger.

When Lampard tried to burst beyond him, Essien matched the run.

When Verón looked for Shevchenko between the lines, Essien stepped into the passing lane.

The attacking players helped him too.

Drogba pressed the centre-backs.

Villa harried Chelsea's deeper midfielders.

Kaká closed aggressively from behind.

Ronaldo and Messi prevented the full-backs from advancing freely.

Chelsea could not simply commit numbers forward without exposing themselves to another counterattack.

That allowed Essien to dominate the space in front of Terry and Vidić.

Maicon and Evra alternated their forward runs, yet Chelsea still struggled to break through the area Essien was protecting.

"Essien again!"

Gray almost laughed as another Chelsea attack collapsed.

"What a tackle."

Lampard turned immediately towards the referee, asking for a foul.

The referee waved play on.

"Nothing wrong with it," Tyler said. "He got the ball cleanly."

Gray shook his head in admiration.

"Since Beckham went off, Essien has effectively become New Manchester United's entire defensive midfield."

"And for the first ten minutes of this half, he's been magnificent."

"He's covering an enormous amount of ground. He's winning tackles, closing passing lanes and getting the ball away quickly once he wins it. Chelsea simply haven't managed to play through him."

Tyler smiled.

"An accelerated Makélélé."

Almost as if summoned by the comparison, Essien intercepted again.

Verón attempted to slide a pass towards Shevchenko.

Essien read it early, stepped forward and took possession.

This time he found Kaká.

Kaká dropped towards the left and exchanged a quick one-two with Evra, who continued his run beyond him.

The French full-back reached the byline and crossed.

Drogba rose against Stam.

He won the header.

The ball flew over the crossbar.

"Mourinho's instructions to Essien are obvious," Tyler said. "Defend first. Defend second. Defend third."

Gray nodded.

"He's doing the work that normally would be shared between two midfielders."

"But what makes it possible is the pressure ahead of him. Chelsea aren't being allowed to build attacks comfortably, so Essien isn't constantly facing runners from three different directions."

"And look at Terry and Vidić behind him. They've hardly been threatened since half-time."

New Manchester United's attacking plan was becoming equally obvious.

Chelsea were strongest through the centre.

So Mourinho attacked around them.

The full-backs pushed high, creating overloads on both flanks.

Whenever Ronaldo or Messi moved inside, Evra or Maicon went beyond them.

Chelsea were being forced to defend the entire width of the pitch.

"There it is again," Gray said. "Maicon and Messi on the right."

Messi received near the touchline and drove inside.

Bridge followed him.

That opened the outside lane.

Messi slipped the ball towards the byline, where Maicon had continued his run.

The Brazilian looked up once and crossed.

Drogba had established his position between Stam and Cannavaro.

Stam leaned into him heavily, but Drogba refused to be moved.

He rose first.

Header.

Hildebrand reacted brilliantly.

The German goalkeeper spread himself and parried the ball away.

Villa was already moving towards the rebound.

Hildebrand threw himself forward and smothered it before the Spaniard could reach it.

"Excellent goalkeeping!"

Tyler raised his voice.

"Villa was waiting for anything loose, but Hildebrand got there."

Gray nodded.

"That is why Chelsea have conceded so few goals this season."

Hildebrand had been outstanding since moving to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had conceded only ten league goals, the best defensive record in England, and the German's consistency had played a major part.

His performances were even strengthening calls in Germany for him to succeed Oliver Kahn as the national team's first-choice goalkeeper.

Chelsea's defence held.

For the moment.

The next Red Rebels attack again began on the right.

Bridge stayed deeper this time and denied Messi the space to run beyond him.

Messi recycled possession towards Maicon.

The right-back looked across the pitch and changed the point of attack with a long diagonal.

Evra controlled it on his chest.

He immediately drove forward.

Villa moved sharply out of the penalty area and offered himself between the lines.

Evra found him.

Villa laid the ball back towards Kaká.

The Brazilian struck from distance.

Cannavaro threw himself in front of the shot.

The ball deflected loose.

Evra reached it before Verón and stabbed a pass into the inside-left channel.

Ronaldo cut in sharply.

Ferreira stayed tight to him.

The Portuguese winger stumbled under the pressure but somehow kept control long enough to prod the ball towards the centre.

Kaká was waiting.

He did not take a touch.

He shot immediately.

Hildebrand had been tracking Ronaldo and could not adjust quickly enough.

The ball flew past him.

2-2.

The stadium erupted again.

"Sixty-seven minutes!"

Tyler could barely be heard over the crowd.

"New Manchester United have come all the way back!"

Gray laughed.

"What a transformation."

"They were dreadful by their standards in the first half. Now they've produced twenty minutes of relentless, intelligent attacking football."

Kaká did not celebrate for long.

He ran straight into the goal, picked up the ball and turned towards halfway.

As he jogged back, he waved repeatedly at his teammates.

Keep going.

Nobody misunderstood.

A draw was not enough.

The Red Rebels wanted to win.

Chelsea were now under sustained pressure.

Wave after wave of attacks came towards their penalty area.

Ancelotti recognised the danger.

He had no intention of allowing New Manchester United's momentum to become uncontrollable.

Verón came off.

Ricardo Carvalho came on.

The Portuguese defender moved into midfield as an additional screening player, giving Chelsea more strength in front of the back four.

The change worked.

For several minutes, New Manchester United found it harder to create clear chances.

Carvalho crowded the centre, helped Emerson shut down Kaká and gave the Chelsea defence greater protection.

Yet the Red Rebels did not retreat.

Their attacks continued.

The pressure kept building.

This was the best half of football New Manchester United had produced in nearly a month.

The crowd sensed it too.

After the equaliser, more than fifty thousand supporters rose together, clapping, singing and driving the players forward.

Every successful tackle was cheered.

Every recovered ball drew another roar.

Every attack seemed to gather more force than the last.

Even Mourinho, normally obsessed with controlling his emotions during a match, was being carried by it.

Then, in the 79th minute, he took another gamble.

Vidić's number appeared on the board.

Fàbregas came on.

The stadium reacted with surprise.

Mourinho was taking off a centre-back for another midfielder.

There would be no attempt to protect the draw.

Fàbregas was given licence to move wherever he found space.

Less than two minutes later, the decision paid off.

The young Spaniard received possession in the right half-space.

Chelsea expected him to play forward.

Instead, Fàbregas looked across the entire pitch and clipped a diagonal pass behind the defence.

Evra had been left completely free on the opposite side.

The Frenchman raced onto the ball and entered the penalty area from a forty-five-degree angle.

Hildebrand moved towards him.

Evra did not shoot.

He drove a low ball across the face of goal.

Messi arrived from the right.

One touch.

Goal.

3-2.

For a fraction of a second, there was silence.

Then the stadium detonated.

New Manchester United had done it.

From 0-2 down, they now led 3-2.

Their first league victory in almost a month was suddenly within reach.

Messi disappeared beneath a pile of teammates.

Mourinho launched himself into the air on the touchline.

He landed, punched both fists once, then immediately began shouting instructions.

Keep pressing.

Do not stop.

Ancelotti was preparing another adjustment when the Red Rebels struck again.

Kaká combined beautifully with Fàbregas through the centre.

The Spaniard received the return pass outside the penalty area and shot without hesitation.

Hildebrand saw it late.

He dived and managed to parry the effort.

But he could not hold it.

Villa had anticipated the rebound.

He had endured a frustrating evening, missed chances and spent long periods crowded out by Chelsea's defenders.

This time he was exactly where he needed to be.

Before Cannavaro could recover, Villa stretched out a boot and turned the loose ball into the net.

4-2.

The stands descended into delirium.

At half-time, some supporters had barely wanted to look at the pitch.

Now they were witnessing one of the most extraordinary halves in the club's history.

Four unanswered goals against the league leaders.

A match that had looked lost had been torn completely apart.

And New Manchester United still were not finished.

They continued attacking until the final minutes.

Fàbregas had given the side something different.

The urgency remained, but there was more thought behind it now.

His passing added control to the aggression.

Later, with Kaká withdrawn, Fàbregas was given even greater freedom to operate behind the forwards.

Near the end, he received possession and saw Drogba beginning his run against Stam.

The pass came instantly.

Drogba used his strength to get across the Dutch defender, stayed onside and drove into the penalty area.

Hildebrand moved towards the near post.

Drogba finished before he could set himself.

5-2.

This time there was no containing the crowd.

Every supporter seemed to be on their feet.

The Red Rebels anthem rolled around the stadium, louder with each verse, spilling beyond the stands and into the streets outside.

Ancelotti could only watch.

He had made reasonable decisions.

He had protected a two-goal lead.

He had strengthened his midfield when New Manchester United drew level.

He had tried to manage the momentum.

None of it had been enough.

For forty-five minutes, the Red Rebels had played with an intensity Chelsea simply could not contain.

What made it even more remarkable was the situation in which Mourinho had chosen to attack.

Two goals down.

Out of form.

Without Beckham.

Under enormous pressure.

Most managers would have tried to restore control first.

Mourinho had instead made the match more dangerous.

And his players had responded with five goals.

At the post-match press conference, Ancelotti could only shrug.

"I don't enjoy losing 5-2," he said. "But this is football."

A reporter asked whether New Manchester United deserved such a dramatic comeback.

Ancelotti shook his head slightly.

"I don't want to spend the evening praising the opposition. I prefer to look at my own team."

A few reporters smiled.

"We lost control when the match became difficult. That concerns me."

He continued.

"New Manchester United played very well, obviously. But we also made too many mistakes, and at this level, mistakes are punished."

Ancelotti glanced towards Mourinho.

"Going from 2-0 ahead to losing 5-2 teaches you a great deal. Sometimes that lesson is more valuable than another easy three points."

Beside him, Mourinho maintained a perfectly polite expression.

Winning always improved his mood.

The faint smile on his face, however, was irritatingly satisfied.

When Ancelotti finished, Mourinho leaned towards his microphone.

"Yes," he said.

"We learned quite a lot too."

The press room burst into laughter.

(To be continued.)