First half 2008 UEFA Champions League Final

manchester united , chelsea players shake hands ahead of match.

after cagey first 21 minutes, first major incident of game occurred when paul scholes , claude makélélé clashed in mid-air, resulting in both players being booked , scholes having leave field treatment bloody nose. first goal of game came 5 minutes later, when interchange of passes between scholes , wes brown after throw-in on right flank gave brown time pick out cross cristiano ronaldo, directed header past petr Čech. chelsea equalised in 33rd minute when frank lampard s cross headed goal area didier drogba. united s rio ferdinand, under pressure michael ballack, forced head ball towards own goal , edwin van der sar pulled off one-handed save deny chelsea goal. united spent rest of first half pressing second goal, , had 2 opportunities extend lead, denied double-save Čech. wayne rooney delivered long ball path of ronaldo , united goalscorer placed cross on head of diving carlos tevez, Čech deny him. chelsea s failure clear loose ball gave michael carrick chance extend side s lead, Čech again equal task save.

manchester united in possession

chelsea survived pressure, tevez failed connect low cross rooney, , equalised in final minute of first half. goal followed long-range shot michael essien, deflected first off nemanja vidić , ferdinand. ball s change in direction caused van der sar lose footing, leaving lampard, had made run deep, simple finish. in celebration, lampard looked , pointed sky both hands in memory of mother, pat, had died month earlier. @ end of first half, manchester united manager sir alex ferguson confronted match referee Ľuboš micheľ, jabbing out angry finger , spitting out few choice words .