CHELSEA 1 : MANU 1

SALOMON KALOU was the late hero as Chelsea denied title rivals Manchester United a memorable victory.

Park Ji-sung had fired the champions ahead in the first-half at Stamford Bridge.

United looked set to end the Blues' 84-match unbeaten home record in the Premier League before Kalou nodded home with 10 minutes remaining.

The draw puts Chelsea up to second, one point behind leaders Arsenal. United remain in the bottom half of the table.

Chelsea suffered a blow in the warm-up when Deco was forced to pull out through injury, with Michael Ballack handed a start.

United opted to leave Carlos Tevez and the returning Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, with Dimitar Berbatov starting up front with Wayne Rooney.

The game started at a frantic pace and Darren Fletcher was first to threaten when he poked over from Owen Hargreaves' cross.

Rooney capitalised on Petr Cech’s wayward clearance to hook the ball towards the empty net but it sailed inches wide.

Joe Cole then pounced on an error by United keeper Edwin van der Sar but his shot ended in the side-netting.

Chelsea were then hit Ricardo Carvalho's injury, as the defender limped off with suspected knee ligament damage.

United should have gone in front when Rooney fed the unmarked Rio Ferdinand inside the area but Cech pulled off a good save low down.

But the opener eventually arrived when Patrice Evra outmuscled Jose Bosingwa to reach Rooney’s superb pass.

The left-back crossed for Berbatov and although Cech blocked the striker's shot, Park was on hand to slot home the rebound.

Florent Malouda had a good shout for a penalty turned down when he collided with Van der Sar in the area. The United keeper was eventually forced off with a leg injury to be replaced by Tomasz Kuszczak.

Chelsea brought on Didier Drogba to spearhead their second-half fightback, while Ronaldo was soon on for the away side.

Joe Cole had a fantastic opportunity to level but he drove his shot straight at Kuszczak and Ferdinand cleared.

The Blues' best chance was spurned by Nicolas Anelka with 15 minutes remaining.

Joe Cole drilled the ball across the six-yard box but, with the goal gaping, the Frenchman somehow failed to poke home.

Yet, he was let off the hook when Kalou grabbed the equaliser.

The sub rose highest to head home John Obi Mikel's free-kick past the helpless Kuszczak.

Now Stamford Bridge was alive and demanding a winner. It took a diving block from Evans to prevent the super sub from scoring it as Kalou's goalbound shot was deflected over. Alex bravely and painfully threw himself in the way of a Fletcher rocket to keep the scores level.

Evra and Ronaldo, the latter for wagging his finger at the ref, made it a mammoth seven bookings for the visitors.

In stoppage time, despite a corner won and Drogba felled on the edge of the area as the final whistle blew with some seconds left on the clock, the complete turnaround proved elusive. However few in blue leaving the stadium will complain about a point won from this game.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Bosingwa, Carvalho (Alex 11), Terry (c); A Cole; Mikel; J Cole, Ballack (Kalou 73), Lampard, Malouda (Drogba 46); Anelka.
Scorer Kalou 79.
Booked Mikel 67.

Man United 4-4-2: Van der Sar (Kuszczak 31); Neville, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra; Hargreaves, Fletcher, Scholes (Ronaldo 54), Park (O'Shea 73); Rooney, Berbatov.
Scorer Park 18.
Booked Scholes 34, Ferdinand 40, Neville 57, Berbatov 58., Rooney 78, Evra 85, Ronaldo 91+1.