Fernando Torres' miserable season reached a new low on Sunday as one of the worst misses in Barclays Premier League history helped Manchester United to a 3-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford.
Torres, who had already scored his first goal of the season to give Chelsea hope in the first minute of the second half, rounded United goalkeeper David de Gea in the 83rd minute only to slice his shot into the Stretford End.
Sitter: The Spaniard spurned a chance to get Chelsea within one goal of the champions
Fernando Torres produced one of the worst misses of all time as Manchester United took charge in the title race.
Missing in action: Torres slumps to the floor as United fans jeer his open goal gaffe
Ridicule: The Chelsea striker was taunted by United fans after his miss
Torres' goal soon after the break certainly made things interesting but the second half was also notable for a late challenge in the penalty area by Ashley Cole on Javier Hernandez.
Ferguson said: 'It was a shocking challenge. He's very reckless at times, Ashley Cole. Sometimes he can go over the edge a bit. We will have to see what the damage is in the morning. His leg is very numb. He could be out for a couple of weeks.'
Down and out: Hernandez faces a spell on the sidelines
Reckless: Fergie was disappointed with Cole's challenge
Torres didnt train his left leg
no wonder
The United boss hit out as his side stayed top of the Premier League, while Chelsea's Fernando Torres was also left howling over an amazing miss that could have pulled the Blues back to 3-2 down.
Hernandez could now be out for a fortnight and Fergie raged: "It was a shocking tackle. He's very reckless at times, Ashley Cole.
He is committed of course but he sometimes can go over the edge a bit and the tackle was an example of that."
The challenge came in the six-yard box as Cole's scissor challenge sent the Mexican crashing to the ground.
Ferguson added: "The referee has booked him for it so I don't know why it wasn't a penalty. I must ask him.
"We will have to see what the damage is in the morning. His leg is numb. He could be out for a couple of weeks."
Ref Phil Dowd did not give the penalty as the ball was already out of play when the challenge was made.
wah lao.....the match was a real ball-breaker! Man Utd deserve the win....they too, missed many close shaves.
Chelsea goin to hav a poor season i reckon....unless Torres manages to improve even more from here....
Actually I thought Torres was one of their best player on the night... He was a threat whenever he gets the ball... Only thing is he fail to score from an 'open goal'... This it seems has taken away all the good work he did in the match compare to the others... Cos people seemed to focus on this incident only...
When compare to the rest... Sturridge was like non existence, Mata don't track back enough for a winger... Lampard was being his usual self... So Torres was one of their best if not the best for them on the night in my opinion...
Man Utd win liao lah this season..........
Man City and Chelsea fight for 2nd place............one team too old, the other can't really play.......
Spurs and Liverpool fight for 4th place...........
Arsenal go Europa League..............
even though its still early days....
i have no confidence in chelsea's old men squad.
i have no confidence in mancini.
so its man u for the title as far as i am concerned.
It's still too early to say United will win honestly... Cos a lot of things can happen from now till May next year...
Already they got serious enough injury problems with Rafael, Vidic, Rio, Cleverley, Welbeck and now even Hernandez will be out... How much more thinner can the team gets before it shows... All this together with a new keeper still learning how to adapt in the premier league not to mention a new language...
So it' still early days... it's just one match... For all we know United could drop points at Stoke away next week and City win and go to the top of the table...
Even if they got a lead of 15 points by Jan I still won't be counting my chickens cos it has been proven before that it can still be caught...
rio and vidic is coming back soon, so its a good thing fergie bought Jones when they are out, as he can also play RB and CB, and also defensive midfield to add to his versatility. The thing is Fabio isnt injured and why fergie didnt pick him play, so that smalling and Jones can partner in central defence and dun let that dodgy Evans play. whenever he plays, I scared for the worst, as he either clumsily concede a pk or fail to mark a striker. good to see fletcher back to his marauding best as defensive midfielder, doing the dirty work in midfield like chasing, tacking etc. Valencia too is back, so its good news in the injury department. I think Rafael will start training in a few weeks time, so its all not too bad.
My hopes for someone to topple Man Utd off the top now lies with City.
Chelsea has been my hope for the last few years, but this year i don't think it'll happen. Though I hope Torres finds form and becomes a goal-machine.
Arsenal in deep chocolate.
Barca to continue to dominate the world (if they can get past AC on second leg).
Originally posted by Keii:We were very very lucky with this game, truly.
I really don't know what else I can say about Evans. Many times he was oblivious to movement around him, made one great interception, but other than that always got on the wrong side of opponents and relying of the side ref.
Perfect example was just above me, after Torres' miss, it cuts to Fletcher and Evans who are the closest behind and they stopped in their tracks, never even tried to run back expecting an offside.Either way, I am depressed Rooney missed two chances. I'm happy for Torres as a player to finally get a goal, because it must be killing him to be goalless for so long. But let's not forget some of the saves De Gea made lol.
Good win, but lucky. I hope the momentum continues, and that performance picks up again. (Like that game against Tottenham, and Bolton)
agree with you.. MUFC did not really "control" the game esp a home game.
This was too open, and the results could have swung either way. MF wise, MUFC is seriously lacking.. The only highlight is Jones and Wing plays (nani). I still think MUFC needs a Keano or Scholes type of figure that can control the tempo better and not lose the ball so often.
Chelsea's strikers had a torrid time, not sure whether MUFC will have this "good" fortune if faced with more on forms strikers..
Also, in all fairness, two of MUFC's goals were off-site. Of course, Nani still have a lot to do in the 2nd goal, even when he first got the ball (offsite position).
Originally posted by zocoss:Actually I thought Torres was one of their best player on the night... He was a threat whenever he gets the ball... Only thing is he fail to score from an 'open goal'... This it seems has taken away all the good work he did in the match compare to the others... Cos people seemed to focus on this incident only...
When compare to the rest... Sturridge was like non existence, Mata don't track back enough for a winger... Lampard was being his usual self... So Torres was one of their best if not the best for them on the night in my opinion...
I agree.. if MUFC can swap berbacock, Owen for him, it will be best.. cause with the support Torres can get from Nani, Rooney, or Young, he will have even more chance to perform/score..
Originally posted by Jacky Woo:rio and vidic is coming back soon, so its a good thing fergie bought Jones when they are out, as he can also play RB and CB, and also defensive midfield to add to his versatility. The thing is Fabio isnt injured and why fergie didnt pick him play, so that smalling and Jones can partner in central defence and dun let that dodgy Evans play. whenever he plays, I scared for the worst, as he either clumsily concede a pk or fail to mark a striker. good to see fletcher back to his marauding best as defensive midfielder, doing the dirty work in midfield like chasing, tacking etc. Valencia too is back, so its good news in the injury department. I think Rafael will start training in a few weeks time, so its all not too bad.
err... in all fairness, even with Rio/Vidic, I still think Torres can run rings around them. Jones is younger, and faster, and he dealt with Torres better. Torres or chelsea became "better" when Mata played behind Torres and gave him the ball more. I think the fault lies with Fletcher, Anderson, they are simply too slow and their cover poor. Fletcher is a poor shadow of what he can do. Even Carrick is not pacey enough..
if MUFC face Barca again now, the results may be same as per the last time they met.
With everything said and done, I'm really inclined towards having Evans, Carrick and Gibson shipped out in a year or two, assuming we don't get injury-heavy, and that we bring in another def and midfielder, Fletch is pretty much second-string now.
Unless Pogba can fill that gap, who knows. There is still De Laet in Norwich, but the first few games he wasn't exactly fantastic.
too bad Sneider didnt join united. if he joins, then united have a player maker at centre to control the midfield. heard that city bid for de rossi for 8m. united should go for him as 8m is too cheap for a player of his quality. buy him and sell carrick and gibson. loan out michael owen to cover the wages, as there are too many strikers at united now.
I am a man u fans and I feel that man u will be barclays league champion again. They are young, fast and strong.
The real test will be the champion league.