In the summer, when the fixtures are announced, Chelsea vs Manchester United is a game that always catches the eye.
With this fixture, that has produced so many unforgettable moments, taking place on Monday evening, we take a look at some of the most memorable goals from over the years.
Fancy another cracking contest on Monday night? You can find all of our football betting odds for the game here.
Diego Forlan (Manchester United) – 18th January 2003
With Arsenal leading the way at the top of the Premier League and United currently drawing 1-1 to Chelsea with 20 minutes to go, Alex Ferguson turned to Diego Forlan with the hope that the Uruguayan could produce a moment of brilliance to win them the game.
It looked destined to finish level as the fourth official signalled that there would be five minutes added time.
United pushed for a winner but they could not breakthrough until the third minute of injury time as Juan Sebastian Veron picked up the ball 40 yards from goal before playing a sensational pass that cut through the Chelsea defence and found Forlan.
Forlan took one touch before rifling the ball past Carlo Cudicini and into the roof of the net. United had done it and Old Trafford finally had lift-off.
Joe Cole (Chelsea) – 29th April 2006
In April of 2006, Chelsea needed just a point against United to win a second consecutive league title.
With an hour gone and Chelsea 1-0 up thanks to William Gallas’ early header, a moment of brilliance unfolded.
Didier Drogba managed to flick on a Petr Cech goal kick to Joe Cole who was trapped between Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Mikael Silvestre with nowhere to go.
Cole found a yard of space and managed to produce an incredible piece of trickery to get away from Ferdinand and Vidic before shrugging off Silvestre.
Baring down on goal, Cole swept the ball past Edwin van der Sar and into the net as Stamford Bridge erupted. Chelsea went on to win the game 3-0 and were crowned champions of England.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) – 21st May 2008
The Champions League final is the biggest stage in club football and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo had to be the one to light up the final.
United dominated the contest in the opening 20 minutes and just as it looked like Chelsea were getting back into the game, a moment of sheer brilliance from Ronaldo put United ahead.
Wes Brown made a rare surging run up the pitch before cutting back and whipping in a beautiful ball into the box.
Michael Essien, who was playing as a makeshift right-back, was caught out underneath the ball and allowed Ronaldo to steal a march. Ronaldo leapt like a salmon and planted a bullet header past Cech into the bottom corner.
Frank Lampard equalised for Chelsea but United would go on to win on penalties, therefore being crowned champions of Europe in Moscow.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea) – 19th May 2007
After years of construction, the new Wembley Stadium hosted its first FA Cup Final since 2000. Chelsea had lost out on the league title to United, but they were set to take revenge.
Both sides lacked quality throughout the game as towards the end of the 90 minutes, Ryan Giggs missed a glorious chance for United after a magnificent save from Cech.
With the game leaning towards penalties, a rare piece of quality from Chelsea left United players and fans with their heads in their hands. A fantastic pass found Drogba who then played a give and go with Lampard before lifting the ball over Van der Sar in the 116th minute to seal the trophy for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
Their triumphant performance meant Chelsea had won the last final at the old Wembley and also the first final at the new Wembley. History was made.
Nani (Manchester United) – 18th September 2011
Manchester United were already 1-0 up thanks to Chris Smalling’s opener but what was about to happen next was simply magical.
Chelsea’s backline contributed to their own downfall as a long ball went up the pitch but instead of heading it away, they headed it straight to Manchester United winger, Nani.
The former Sporting Lisbon man took one touch, two touches, three touches, then unleashed a stunning effort into the top left corner of the goal, almost taking the net off.
The then Portuguese international’s wonder strike was almost identical to some goals scored by another certain Portuguese winger they used to have.
Juan Mata (Chelsea) – 5th February 2012
In February 2012, Manchester United came out after half-time hoping that they could turn around the 1-0 deficit, but that wasn’t to be.
Just 24 seconds after the restart, Branislav Ivanovic’s brilliant pass down the line found Fernando Torres who went past two before bending a ball towards the back post.
Steaming in at the back post was Juan Mata, who struck an exquisite volley into the roof of the net giving Chelsea a well-deserved 2-0 lead.
Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) – 5th February 2012
Chelsea led 3-0 with little over half an hour to go and Manchester United looked to be down and out. But Wayne Rooney converted from the spot twice to bring United within one with only 10 minutes left to play.
Chelsea’s defence was doing everything they could to stop the United onslaught but with six minutes left, they gave in. Cech parried a shot to Giggs on the wing who whipped in a peach of a cross which was met by Javier Hernandez.
United had pulled off one of the greatest Chelsea vs Manchester United comebacks in history.
Demba Ba (Chelsea) – April 1st 2013
In a game that lacked quality from the get-go, something had to change if either Chelsea or Manchester United wanted to progress in the FA Cup.
After a very quiet opening 45 minutes, Chelsea came out for the second half raring to go. Three minutes after the break, Mata picked up a loose pass before playing a fantastic lofted pass in behind United’s defence.
The pass looked a little too long but Demba Ba somehow managed to scissor kick the ball on the full into David De Gea’s net.
The game ended 1-0 and Chelsea progressed to Wembley.
Pedro (Chelsea) – 23rd October 2016
Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time in the opposing dugout with the hope of spoiling the home side’s evening.
What happened next was unexpected to say the least. Chelsea kicked off, passed it to the backline before David Luiz played a hopeless long ball towards De Gea.
As the goalkeeper came out to collect it, Smalling allowed Pedro to get through the gap who toe poked it past De Gea and then calmly finished it off.
Mourinho’s welcome back to Stamford Bridge had started with a horror show from his defence.
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) – 30th October 2019
Chelsea were major favourites going into this much awaited League Cup tie but Manchester United had other ideas.
Just 10 minutes after Michy Batshuayi levelled the scores for Chelsea, United were awarded a free-kick 35 yards from goal.
Marcus Rashford stepped up and instead of crossing the ball, he decided to have an audacious effort at shooting.
Rashford took four steps back and then unleashed one of the best free kicks of his career. The swirling ball went over the wall and into the top left-hand corner of Willy Caballero’s goal.
Manchester United held on to their lead and knocked Chelsea out of the cup.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.