Throwback Matches: Chelsea 3 - 0 Manchester United - 2005/06 - Title Clincher

This is a new series where I will be throwing it back to some old Chelsea classic matches......

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

Todays Throwback match is an absolute classic, the game that clinched our second successive PL title, the game we tore Man U apart and a match with some incredible goals in it.

A typical William Gallas far post tap in from a flicked on corner opened the scoring on the 5th minute, a routine we used a lot under Mourinho. Lampard swung the ball in, Drogba flicked it on and Gallas did what he did from those positions and smashed it in with a bullet harder from 2 yards out. What a start to a massive game!

The second goal is one of my favourite ever Chelsea goals, from one of my favourite ever Chelsea players. A long free kick from Petr Cech up to Drogba who took the ball down with his chest under pressure, it fell to Super Joey Cole and the rest is history. The footwork to get past 3 (THREE!!!) United defenders was Messi-esque, he absolutely bamboozled Rio Ferdinand and the touch to burst past Silvestre was world class, then the finish was incredible into the roof of the net, we were well on our way to being PL champions again with half hour still to play.

Then with just over 15 minutes left to play one of the most underrated centre halves of his generation did something only he could do, he intercepted an awful cross and dribbled the ball out from the back, he then passed to Lampard 25 yards into our own half and continued his run, Lampard then played the ball to the right to Joe Cole, who cut inside and played a pass to Ricardo Carvalho who took one touch and then smashed the ball into the back of the United net, an unbelievable finish and team goal! That right there was the title Signed, Sealed and Delivered!!

That right there is an iconic Mourinho XI for me, my childhood summed up in a starting XI and that season well and truly summed up.

The balance in that team was excellent, they knew what each other were going to do at every given moment and lets give credit to United there team is world class there, not easy to tear them apart!

Looking back through the stats from the game it wasn’t as big of a domination as it felt or as the scoreline tells it, possession was even, shots were fairly even, Cech made more saves than Van Der Sar, that just sums up Chelsea in that era, ruthless at both ends of the pitch, aggressive and dominant everywhere else.

I have really enjoyed looking back and reflecting on this game and watching the highlights on YouTube, recommend anyone to spend 3 minutes watching the highlights below!

Thank you all for reading

Luke Rushbrook