Man Utd defeat Chelsea 2-0

In a battle between two of the Premiership's top dogs, Man Utd defeated Chelsea 2-0 thanks to a first goal for Utd by Carlos Tevez and a late dubious penalty by Louis Saha. Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel was sent off by the referee Mike Dean in a very contentious decision.

A miserable and wet 90 minutes did not have much action but Man Utd took the lead early on.

Avram Grant's side looked considerably more attacking than when under Jose Mourinho's reign. Man Utd made a bright start and Wayne Rooney nearly scored a sensational goal in the first 5 minutes if not for a wonderful fingertip save by Czech keeper Petr Cech.

John Obi Mikel was sent off for tackling Patrice Evra with two feet by Mike Dean. The tackle was not particularly dangerous, but it was certainly not a red card.

However, it was not until first half injury time when Man Utd finally got the goal their hard work deserved as Ryan Giggs curled in a cross with the outside of his foot and Carlos Tevez got a little flick on the ball with his head and it flew into the net.

The second half began brightly and Chelsea controlled the possession despite being down to 10 men.

Joe Cole was lucky not to get a red card as he hacked down a United player, and Alex Ferguson went crazy on the touchline demanding a red card.

There was not much action until in the 88th minute the referee made another shocking decision as Tal Ben-Haim made a small knock onto substitute Louis Saha's leg and gave a penalty. Louis Saha himself stepped up to slip the ball home into middle of the goal to wrap up the three points for Man Utd.

Chelsea: Petr Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Tal Ben-Haim, John Terry, Ashley Cole, John Mikel Obi, Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Joe Cole, Andriy Shevchenko, Florent Malouda.

Substitutes: Carlo Cudicini, Alex, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Salomon Kalou, Claudio Pizarro.

Man United: Edwin Van der Sar; Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes; Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez.

Subs: Kuszczak, Pique, O'Shea, Nani, Saha.