Carvalho salvages point for Chelsea

Ricardo Carvalho's second half-header earned Chelsea FC a crucial point as the English champions battled back to draw away to leaders Manchester United FC in the most eagerly anticipated match of the Premiership so far on Sunday. Carvalho scored with 69 minutes played to restore parity after Louis Saha had atoned for his penalty miss against Celtic FC in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday by putting United ahead on 29 minutes.

Saha strikes
After a tight opening, it took a moment of individual brilliance to break the deadlock. Wayne Rooney fed Saha on the edge of the area and though the United striker was closed down by Carvalho and John Terry he was able to bend a low shot into the corner beyond the dive of Carlo Cudicini. Chelsea were forced to chase the game but initially they struggled to pin United back. Not until the 37th minute did they trouble Edwin van der Sar who dove low to his left to punch out Geremi's swerving drive. A minute before the break Van der Sar was called into action again to keep out Frank Lampard's low strike, but United reached the interval without their lead coming under any real threat.

Carvalho leveller
Chelsea stepped up the pressure after the interval and began to turn the tide. United looked dangerous on the break with Cristiano Ronaldo, Saha and Ryan Giggs all working chances, but the pressure was mounting on the United goal and Chelsea duly drew level on 69 minutes. Frank Lampard floated in a corner from the right and Carvalho climbed highest to head in, the ball deflecting in off the head of Saha on the line. The goal proved enough to earn the champions a draw, but they still trail United by three points with 14 games played.

'Deserved to score'
"We didn't play well in the first half," Chelsea coach José Mourinho said. "I said to my players the biggest frustration for me in football is not when I lose but when you do nothing to win and in the first half we didn't play well. I told them [at half-time], 'Don't be afraid to lose, be afraid to go home with a bad feeling and the bad feeling comes when you play nothing'. What was wrong in the first half was the mental aspect of the game. United were faster on the ball and winning more second balls. In the second half it was completely the opposite. It looked a new game ... We came here to win but the draw is fair and is a good result. Manchester United missed a big, big chance at home to open the gap to six points, but they couldn't do it."

'Outstanding chance'
Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed to see his side drop two points but took heart from a spirited performance. "We showed we deserved top place," he said. "Some of the football we played was fantastic and we could have scored more goals. I'm pleased with the performance and I'm pleased with the effort we made. It's going to be nip and tuck [in the race for the title]," he added. "There won't be a lot in it. We have given ourselves an outstanding chance but there is still a long way to go."

Tottenham win
In the day's other games, Tottenham Hotspur FC were 3-1 winners at home to Wigan Athletic FC while struggling Newcastle United FC picked up an important 1-0 win at home to Portsmouth FC.