Honours even as missed chances cost United

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MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Manchester United maintained their three-point edge over Chelsea at the top of the Premiership but a 1-1 draw with the champions will go down as a missed opportunity for Sir Alex Ferguson's side. Fired ahead by Louis Saha's superbly-taken first-half goal, United were forced to settle for only a point when the French striker deflected Ricardo Carvalho's goal-bound header into his own net with just over 20 minutes left of a match in which Chelsea were, for long periods, comprehensively outplayed. Once again, 30-million-pound striker Andriy Shevchenko and Germany captain Michael Ballack were conspicuous by their absence from the decisive moments of the match and their subdued performances were not the only area where the champions failed to distinguish themselves. Didier Drogba was extremely fortunate to remain on the pitch after catching United's Serbian centreback Nemanja Vidic with what appeared to be a pre-meditated elbow to the face, ten minutes before half-time. The opening exchanges were predictably muscular, with Ashley Cole fortunate to avoid a yellow card after diving recklessly into a challenge on Cristiano Ronaldo, presumably in reprisal for the ease with which the Portuguese winger had glided past both him and his England team-minute Frank Lampard in the preceding minutes. Ryan Giggs's early swerve inside Geremi on the opposite flank also offered encouragement for the home side, although it was not until the 18th minute that they tested Carlo Cudicini, Ronaldo's ferocious free-kick acrobatically touched over the Chelsea goalkeeper. The superiority of United's passing suggested a goal might not be long coming and, when it arrived just before the half hour mark, it was immaculate in both construction and execution. Giggs started the move on the edge of his own box, his pass finding Rooney, who in turn picked out Saha five yards outside the Chelsea box. A shimmy to the left destabilised Carvalho and the centre forward squeezed his shot around his marker and beyond the right-hand glove of the unsighted Cudicini. Six minutes later, Saha got away from Carvalho once more after being played in by Rooney, but, rather than shoot from a tightish angle, the striker opted to pull the ball back across goal and the chance evaporated. Drogba's elbow on Vidic followed almost immediately with the referee, Howard Webb, deciding it only merited a yellow card. Vidic was the innocent party on that occasion but he was not only sinned against. In the first minute of the match, he had tumbled theatrically to the ground clutching his face after a collision with Ballack in which the German's arm had made contact with his chest. Chelsea finally produced a shot on target in the minutes before half-time, although Lampard's strike from the edge of the area did not overly trouble Edwin van der Sar. Jose Mourinho's half-time response was to bring on Arjen Robben in place of Geremi and send Michael Essien back to right-back to accommodate the Dutch winger. United continued to dominate however and should have gone further ahead after Robben casually conceded possession to Rooney on the edge of the area. The England forward went round Drogba and picked out Saha just in front of the penalty spot but his team-mate was unable to react quickly enough and the ball bounced off his shins and beyond the far post, inches ahead of Ronaldo's outstretched boot. Another chance disappeared when Ronaldo attempted to chest down Gabriel Heinze's perfectly flighted cross on the six-yard line, when almost any sort of header would have resulted in a goal. Giggs also went close, cutting in from the right to unleash a low shot that forced Cudicini to get down sharply at his near post. Any United fans beginning to get uneasy about the number of opportunities not being taken had good reason to be apprehensive as the champions produced an equaliser with just over 20 minutes remaining. Carvalho's header from Lampard's corner was headed towards the goal but van der Sar might well have made sufficient ground to block but for Saha's unfortunate attempt to intervene.