MANCHESTER UNITED must be absolutely loving this. Alex Ferguson’s men have been away for more than a week winning the Club World Cup and they are in a better position to retain the Premier League title than when they left. None of their main rivals have registered a single victory in their absence. Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal have drawn two games each.
The same thing happened when United made a similar trip nine years ago and they went on to win the league.
Chelsea skipper John Terry’s 35th-minute sending-off was the main talking point of a war of attrition at Goodison Park
A ball down the flank was running away from Terry but he would not give it up and decided he was going to get it by whatever means possible.
As Leon Osman moved in to clear, the England captain launched himself at man and ball with studs up and both feet off the ground.
He was not particularly high but he was particularly dangerous and Osman went flying as Terry slid through him. Immediately you sensed Terry was in big trouble as Osman lay on the ground dazed, clutching his ankle.
Referee Phil Dowd waved away Chelsea players as they began protesting before he had even produced a card of any colour.
Terry looked hopefully at Dowd that the result would be a yellow — but it was hardly a shock to see a red one. Terry argued with Dowd, turned to leave the pitch then went back for another debate before realising he had better walk off or his three-match ban might be in serious danger of being increased.
Back in September, Terry was sent off against Manchester City and the decision was rescinded. He will not be so lucky this time round.
Michael Ballack and Deco continued the argument on his behalf, while boss Phil Scolari raged at the fourth official, who had seemingly advised the ref of the severity of the challenge via their radio mics. It was hard to see what they were complaining about. Had Everton done the same to one of their players, they would have expected the ultimate sanction.
Maybe Terry would have got away with it 20 years ago but these are different times.
Mind you, it wasn’t all bad. If Terry could have picked three games to miss, West Brom, Fulham and Southend in the FA Cup would have been the ones. And he gets Christmas off into the bargain! Line them up, landlord!
Chelsea completely lost their composure and Ballack, pathetically, tried to redress the balance when he went down as if shot as he went for a high ball with Tim Cahill.
The Aussie’s arm may have slightly flicked Ballack’s cheekbone but it hardly did the damage the German was claiming. The fans booed loudly and Dowd was not conned.
The nonsense continued with Frank Lampard going into the book a few minutes later for ranting too much after a foul was awarded against Alex for tripping Cahill. Even before the kick was taken Ashley Cole continued the whingeing and added to the card count.
A Joseph Yobo turn and volley on the stroke of half-time, which was well saved by Petr Cech to his right, showed that Everton could sense a chance of a victory, even though they were once again without any recognised strikers due to injuries.
The arguments were still going on as the teams headed down the tunnel at the break with Scolari confronting Dowd and accusing him of being afraid of the crowd.
And it did not take the jokers long to come up with a new Christmas Carol — “Ding-dong Terry goes in high, sees red and Big Phil’s seething.”
Not bad, eh? Though it was before Scolari’s time, Dowd has form as far as Chelsea are concerned.
He reduced the Blues to nine men on Boxing Day last year when he sent off both Ricardo Carvalho and Ashley Cole in a 4-4 draw against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
Scolari decided he needed some more muscle out there and withdrew the ineffective Nicolas Anelka, replacing him with the more physical presence of Didier Drogba.
The unfortunate Joe Cole, who had looked lively at times, was also hooked for defender Branislav Ivanovic.
That allowed John Obi Mikel to return to his holding midfield role, having filled the hole at centre-back created by Terry’s departure.
Everton pressed the visitors back as the second half progressed but they fired rather too many aimless balls into the box, where Cech was commanding in the air.
The daft booking count grew as Ballack complained an Everton wall was not back 10 yards. Dowd paced it out, showed that it was, and promptly yellow-carded Ballack!
Chelsea, trying to maintain a perfect away record, came under severe late pressure and Cech had to be on his toes to tip over a Tony Hibbert cross which deflected off Lampard.
From the corner, Cech turned away a Joleon Lescott header but he was struggling when sub Leighton Baines whipped in a low cross and Marouane Fellaini flicked just wide.
Goodison then erupted as Steven Pienaar kicked the ball out of Cech’s hands and into the net.
The joy was shortlived though, as the South African was ruled offside
