Chelsea lose on penalties!

FA Community Shield, Sunday August 5th 2007 at Wembley Stadium, London.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Johnson (Sidwell 77), Ben-Haim, Carvalho, A Cole (Diarra 67); Mikel, Essien, Lampard (c); Wright-Phillips, J Cole (Sinclair 81), Malouda (Pizarro 51).

Manager José Mourinho.

Goals Malouda 44

Booked Ben-Haim, Carvalho, Mikel

Man United (4-4-1-1): Van der Sar; Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre (Nani 67); Ronaldo, Carrick, O'Shea, Evra; Giggs (Fletcher 80), Rooney.

Manager Alex Ferguson.

Goals Giggs 34

Booked Rooney

Referee Mark Halsey.

Crowd 80,731.

Environment 3pm kick-off; Blisteringly hot and sunny. Live on Sky Sports.

Kit Chelsea - blue shirts and shorts, white socks. Man United - red shirts, white shorts, black socks.

Kick-off Man United

It was a repeat of 1997 as we went down on penalties in the Community Shield at Wembley, after we had come from behind against Manchester United.

It had been a frustrating game to watch, with both teams intent on not letting the other in, rather than going all out for a win, and so penalties were little surprise on the culmination of 90 minutes.

The game had been billed as a prologue to the season ahead, with the team coming out on top today possibly edging ahead in the title race.

The deadlock suggests the teams are neck and neck as we now enter the Premier League season, and manager José Mourinho will be hoping to come out on top after the narrowest of defeats.

The early stages of the game were particularly tight, with Ashley Cole catching the eye, several times looking to get forward beyond Ronaldo, but it was Shaun Wright-Phillips on the other flank who created the first opening, losing Evra before crossing low into the box.

Missing an out-and-out centre forward though, there were not enough blue shirts in the box and United were able to clear.

The diminutive winger looked dangerous each time he was given the ball, and was afforded space to run at his marker.

The first real chance of the game fell after 20 minutes, Ronaldo, having switched to the left ran intently towards goal, but was tackled by a blue defender, only to see the ball ricochet square across the box to the oncoming Giggs.

The United captain shot first time, forcing a world-class save from Petr Cech, as Ashley Cole dived in to block the shot.

This seemed to galvanise the Red Devils, and within a minute Carrick had shot just wide, but still no goals.

After 26 minutes we registered out first goal attempt, and were within inches of taking the lead.

Malouda's whipped free kick was flicked on by Essien, but was heading wide, and then John Obi Mikel, stretching as far as possible could only divert the ball marginally towards the net, as it crept a whisker wide.

The game was beginning to heat up, with Ronaldo again providing a United chance, his low cross just cleared as Silvestre slid in to finish.

At the other end, Malouda made another contribution, his long-range shot finding the target, but also the safe hands of Van der Sar.

After half an hour, on a hot day inside a near-to capacity Wembley, the game was really getting going. Chelsea had had more of the play, but, lacking a proven goalscorer to lead the line, were behind on chances.

Ben-Haim received a caution on his competitive debut, stepping across Rooney who was in full flow. From the resulting free kick 30 yards from goal, Ronaldo fired hard into the wall.

United regained the ball, and as the Portuguese winger combined with Patrice Evra, Giggs was given too much space 12 yards out and was able to steer the Frenchman's cross into Cech's top left corner, awarding United a lead they probably didn't deserve.

It didn't take long to level up though, as just before the break Ashley Cole's searching pass over the United defence found debutant Malouda.

The Frenchman outmuscled Rio Ferdinand, and amid shouts for a penalty, he calmly dinked the ball over Van der Sar into the bottom corner, reminiscent of Didier Drogba's finish in the FA Cup final.

Following that there was just time for Wayne Rooney to be booked by referee Mark Halsey for a challenge on Cech before the half-time whistle sounded.

With no changes at the break, the teams resumed, but there was no slow start this time. Within minutes United had created several chances, Ronaldo and Carrick finding no way past Cech and then Glen Johnson who blocked on the line.

Pizarro entered the fray soon after, replacing Malouda who had taken a knock in scoring the equaliser, with Joe Cole moving out to operate on the left flank.

Just after the hour Giggs' cross was bravely headed behind by Johnson, who was rising well to the challenge up against him.

Carvalho was booked for taking away the legs of Evra, and suddenly Manchester United were back in the ascendancy, but Ronaldo's cross-shot was comfortably held by Cech.

Ashley Cole, still gaining match fitness, was replaced by Lassana Diarra three quarters of the way through the game, with José Mourinho pushing Essien to left back, Diarra tucking into midfield alongside Lampard and Mikel.

Mikel soon found Pizarro, who cut inside and shot, forcing Van der Sar into a dive as the ball narrowly missed the target.

It was impossible to separate the sides with both threatening without creating clear opportunities. For Chelsea Wright-Phillips still looked dangerous on the right, tormenting Evra, while for United it was Ronaldo who had the crowd on their feet each time he gained possession.

With seven minutes to go it was Ronaldo who forced Cech into action, breaking down the left and cutting inside towards goal after dispossessing Mikel .

Ben-Haim forced him wide, and Cech was able to block his toe-poked effort, diverting it behind for a corner.

In the heat, which was up over the 30 degree mark, it seemed as though both sides had settled for a draw, prepared to try their luck in a penalty shootout, and so it was that the game ended all square, with nothing between the two sides.

With a toss of a coin to decide at which end the penalties were taken, luck was on Chelsea as the goalkeepers made their way towards the sea of blue at the west end of the stadium.

Chelsea were to take first, and up stepped Claudio Pizarro, whose kick was too straight, allowing Van der Sar to stretch up and push it out.

It was advantage United, and Rio Ferdinand made it 1-0, calmly despatching his spot-kick low to Cech's right.

Blues captain Frank Lampard was next, but again Van der Sar came out on top, diving to his right to beat the ball away.

Carrick was able to double the lead sending Cech the wrong way, and at 2-0 the writing was on the wall.

Van der Sar completed a hat-trick of saves, pushing out Shaun Wright-Phillips' effort, leaving Wayne Rooney the opportunity to seal the game, which he did, expertly finding Cech's top left corner.

So it was a repeat of the 1997 Charity Shield, as we lost out again to United on penalties, but the closeness of the match suggests there will be a very interesting season ahead.

Comment Drogba is injured and with Terry and Makelele having pulled out of training the day before, it is far from any Chelsea side that would have been predicted. There is no involvement for Shevchenko or Kalou and with Pizarro on the bench, Joe Cole is central in a three-man attack. Lampard skippers and Malouda makes his full debut, Pizarro coming on for his first competitive action. On the bench of seven subs are two keepers and for the first time, 18-year-old centre-back Harry Worley. Despite the lack of a recognised centre-forward, Chelsea match Man U in genuine first-half chances. Malouda's pace, strength and outside of the boot finish are excellent. The Old Trafford outfit have the best of a tighter second-half but Cech and Johnson thwart their best moment. The penalty shoot-out is no contest. The result after 90 minutes and the eventual outcome are the same as when these two sides contested this match 10 years ago.