Chelsea 2 - United 3(2): Initial reaction and community rating form

Well that was a fun game, wasn't it? After falling behind 2-0, it was all Chelsea for a bit as they stormed back to tie it at 2-2. It was a fantastic wide open game that every neutral watching must have thoroughly enjoyed. So much for that.

The referee got involved at that point, and ruined a perfectly good game. He rightfully sent of Branislav Ivanovic for preventing a goal scoring opportunity, and then Fernando Torres was sent off for an absolutely terrible decision to yellow card him for simulation. Chicharito put United ahead on a goal where he was clearly offside, another obvious blown call by the referee.

In fairness, he absolutely butchered a call in stoppage time against United, booking Antonio Valencia for a dive that wasn't even remotely deserved. Still, by that point he had already decided the game, and he really should be spending some time sitting in the corner after his abysmal performance today.

Here's a few thoughts in the immediate aftermath of this one:

• Alex Ferguson better never bitch about the refereeing against Chelsea again. Ever. The officiating was absolutely atrocious today, and they got vital points because of it.
• Seriously, when are we going to see some sort of replay on clearly offside goals? By the time the game kicked off again after the third, they could have easily disallowed that goal. The fact that such a terrible decision could alter the title race at the end of the season just makes me sick.
• Despite the result, Chelsea easily looked the better side today. Part of that was likely down to United sitting deeper after getting up early, but they deserved more than the result that they got.
• I don't really have too much more to say about this one. It was a fantastic game before it was ruined by terrible officiating.