It was a joyful night for Manchester United in Moscow after they defeated Chelsea 6-5 through penalties.
It started well with MU dominating possession in the first half, with at least three chances to score, twice being denied by Cech and only one chance was converted into a goal.
After Lampard's equalizer just before half-time, Chelsea got the right tempo in the match and controlled the second-half. I guess Manchester United were lucky as Drogba's shot was denied by the woodwork with Van der Sar totally beaten around the 85th minute. That could have won the game for Chelsea.
The score was level with one a piece at full-time which forced the match into 30 minutes of extra time. Once again, Chelsea struck the bar with Lampard's shot. Manchester United almost scored when Evra suddenly dribbled past the Chelsea defense and managed a back-pass to Giggs, and somehow Terry was in the way of the ball and managed to block Giggs' shot.
Later an argument ensued between players of both teams, and Droga committed what the commentators labeled as a "professional suicide" by giving Vidic a slap, right in front of the referee and the linesman. Straight-red, what a shame for a player of this level. Both teams weren't able to break the deadlock, which means that the match had to be decided through penalties.
At that point, things were really intensed. Penalties. To cut the story short, Ronaldo's penalty was saved. Chelsea scored the rest but Terry missed the last one. Sudden death. Van der Sar dived to the right side and punched away Anelka's penalty. The end for Chelsea, glory for Manchester United.
What a dramatic night it had been (I admit that the second-half was totally boring. Both teams were playing so conservatively). Glad that MU had won it. Something for the record books. This will make the skeptics eat their words. It has been very disappointing to watch them being knocked out year after year in the past 8 European campaigns, and this win is indeed something for me to be happy about. "Finally" is the word.
A view of the 69,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the venue for this year's Champions League final.
Ronaldo scoring the opening goal for Manchester United after receiving a cross from Wes Brown.
Frank Lampard's equalizer on the 45th minute, after some sloppy defending by MU.
Petr Cech was on form and saved a couple of shots preventing MU from doubling the scoreline.
During extra-time, Drogba received a red card after giving Vidic a slap in the face, which could be the turning point of the game, since the match was destined to head into penalties already. He might as well slap himself in the face also after being sent off.
I still find it unbelievable that Ronaldo had once again missed a penalty during such an important match...
Terry taking the final penalty before sudden-death comes in, with the score tied at 4-4. Since Ronaldo's penalty was saved by Cech, if Terry scored that, Chelsea will be crowned the champions.
...he and missed it. Total relief for all the MU players and supporters.
Manchester United scored the remaining penalties and Van der Sar became the hero of the day when he saved Anelka's penalty.
And then the celebrations!
The pain... From hero to zero.
The joy... Fergie's second Champions League trophy for MU.
Glory!
The other day I finished playing Call of Duty 4 and found the game very good. Unlike the previous installments which were based on World War II action, this new game is given a modern setting which focuses on some of the current issues including the struggle against terrorism and nuclear arms.
Just started playing this game today and it is really cool. When I installed it the first time I got some graphics issues (something was very wrong, I don't know how to describe it) but later I reinstalled the driver for my graphic cards it went well.
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