Fans of United, such as Tunde Folawiyo, are probably aware that January has been a disappointing month for the team; over the past three weeks or so, they have been beaten by Tottenham, Swansea, and most recently, Chelsea. United got off to a strong start in their match against the Blue Lions, maintaining control of the ball for the first fifteen minutes. During this period,  came very close to scoring, with Petr Cech just barely managing a low save.

Ultimately however, Chelsea’s tactical expertise and highly organised defensive strategy was too much for United. Whilst the Blue Lions as a whole played exceptionally well, it was Samuel Eto’o’s hat-trick which led to United’s downfall. Commentators questioned Mourinho’s decision to choose Eto’o over Torres, but as the match played itself out, it became clear that the former was the better choice. Following the match, Mourinho explained that although Torres was an excellent player, Eto’o was better at manoeuvring and controlling the ball in smaller spaces.

Eto’o gave Chelsea the lead 17 minutes into the game. His somewhat clumsy footwork initially suggested that he posed no real threat to the Red Devils; however in the space of just a few seconds, he managed to cut in from the side of the pitch, sneak past Jones and unleash a tremendously powerful shot which hit the corner of the net. This goal should have served as United’s wake-up call, but the players’ seemed disheartened, rather than motivated by Chelsea’s early success.

A few minutes before the interval, the Red Devil’s didn’t quite manage to clear a corner, and then subsequently failed in their attempt to push the Blue Lions out; this resulted in Chelsea taking control once again, with Gary Cahill passing the ball to Eto’o, who then promptly swept yet another goal past United’s keeper. Mere minutes after the two teams returned to the field following the half-time break, Cahill’s attempt to score was thwarted by De Gea; however, Eto’o once again came to Chelsea’s rescue, taking the ball from Valencia and kicking it into the net.

Whilst at this point in the match, it was clear that United would not be going home with a win, the players made a number of valiant efforts to redeem themselves. Hernandez provided the Red Devil’s with their one and only goal, accepting a pass from Jones and then shooting the ball beyond Cech. However, this minor victory was negated by Vidic being given a red card by Phil Dowd, the referee, after his somewhat questionable challenge of Hazard. Overall, the match was most likely a frustrating one for supporters of United,  like Tunde Folawiyo.