Manchester United emerged with a 0-0 draw from a bad-tempered clash against Chelsea on Wednesday that could have ended with both sides down to 10 men.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side had delivered a knockout blow in the title race by taking Chelsea's Premiership crown, but these bitter rivals were intent on giving no ground ahead of their meeting in the FA Cup final on May 19.
Several of the key participants in the battle for the league were rested at Stamford Bridge, but their replacements ensured there was no shortage of needle as the teams who had been sparring for supremacy fthis season went head to head.
PHOTO: AFP
Chelsea's John Obi Mikel and United's Chris Eagles were fortunate not to be sent off for ugly tackles as seven players were booked and Ferguson and Jose Mourinho both incurred referee Graham Poll's wrath for furiously protesting his decisions.
Ferguson made eight changes to the side that won at Manchester City on Saturday, with Chinese striker Dong Fangzhuo handed his competitive debut in place of Wayne Rooney.
The former Dalian Shide player, who joined United for ?500,000 (US$1 million) in January 2004 before being loaned to Belgium's Royal Antwerp, had played for Ferguson's men in friendlies, but had never featured in a senior game.
In making so many changes, Ferguson had deprived Chelsea of the chance to gain a small measure of revenge by beating a full-strength United team just four days after surrendering their title.
And, with Mourinho leaving out Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, a match that had for so long been billed as a title decider bore more than a passing resemblance to a reserve fixture.
As Mourinho had promised, Chelsea's players lined up to give United a guard of honor, replicating the respect shown to the London club at Old Trafford two years ago.
John Terry and company were grim-faced as they applauded the visitors onto the pitch and United's traveling fans rubbed salt into their wounds with persistent chants of "champions."
But Chelsea still started brightly and Shaun Wright-Phillips should have given them the lead in the fifth minute. The winger's surge through the middle gave him a sight of goal, but Tomasz Kuszczak blocked his scuffed shot.
Wright-Phillips was closer to beating the United keeper inadvertently moments later with a cross that dipped just past the far post.
Chelsea were snapping into tackles as though the title was still on the line and Mikel was booked for a rash tackle on Eagles.
Ferguson was furious and sprang from his seat to berate Mikel and then Poll for his failure to send off the midfield enforcer.
Inevitably United lacked a cutting edge without Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. Gabriel Heinze had a half-chance when he beat Carlo Cudicini to a loose ball in the six-yard box, but the Argentine defender stabbed his effort wide.
As a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final, this was a phoney war. Chances were at a premium and Scott Sinclair wasted one of the few when he failed to turn in Claude Makelele's shot.
Mourinho replaced Mikel at half-time, presumably to save him from a dismissal, but United's Wes Brown picked up where he left off with a scything challenge on Sinclair.
After going through the motions in the first half, United briefly found some momentum and Dong nearly beat Cudicini with a looping shot that just cleared the bar.
Then Eagles was unlucky not to win a penalty after being tripped by Michael Essien. Eagles reacted to that perceived injustice with a nasty two-footed lunge on Wright-Phillips that Poll could have punished with more than a booking.
Wright-Phillips tested Kuszczak with a stinging drive as Chelsea tried to raise their tempo. Salomon Kalou brought the Poland international into action again with a low strike from the edge of the area.
The undercurrent of malice that ran through the clash came to the fore again when Makelele blocked Rooney's run. Mourinho sprang to the touchline to make a point to Poll before being told to calm down by the official.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB