Chelsea draw level with United at the top of the league and the Red Devils stay top on goal difference alone, Chelsea deserve the three points on based on their performnce today although it was very close at the end.

Ferdinand follows suit by getting a booking for shoving John Terry, the two England captain canditates nearly coming to blows

Hargreaves gets a booking after losing his rag about something that happened in the pnalty area.

Chelsea saved again by a man on the line, a deep cross in from the right falls to Carrick whose shot is on target but doesn't beat Shevchenko who clears it off the line.

There will be five minutes of added on time after all the stoppages we have had.

Nani brings down the ball in the penalty area and then flicks it on for Ronaldo whose shot beats Cech but is cleared off the line by Cole, what a block by the England left-back.

Chelsea make a tactical change with Joe Cole coming off and Claude Makelele coming on.

Ballack scores from the penalty spot to give Chelsea the lead again, driving his penalty into the net after sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Van der Sar gets a booking after delaying the penalty kick.

Confusion in the Manchester United penalty area where the ball is bouncing around the penalty area and Carrick is eventually judged to have handled the ball, the linesman immediatly makes a signal to Alan Wiley who points to the spot.

Drogba does brilliantly to bring the ball down and get inbetween the two United centre backs before heading towards goal but Van der Sar does very well to come off his line and clear the ball just before Drogba can finish.

Chelsea with the last throw of the dice now bring on Andriy Shevchenko for Salomon Kalou

Ronaldo has another shot from the freekick which is driven in low and forcing Cech to palm it away before any United player can follow it up.

Mikel gets himself a booking after catching Fletcher with a poorly timed tackle.

Essien takes a quick corner which he plays short to Joe Cole who clips it into the penalty area, finding Carvalho on the edge of the penalty who heads it down before firing it over the bar.

Joe Cole has a pop on the volley but doesn't catch the ball quite right, the shot bouncing off the turf a few times before bouncing into the hands of Van der Sar.

Drogba takes the freekick from right on the edge of the penalty area, his effort forces Van der Sar into a good save, pushing it away before United can clear away.

Joe Cole's corner is punched away by Van der Sar but only as far as Terry who is fouled on the edge of the penalty area, great position for a freekick.

Joe Cole drives in a corner which Terry gets on the end of, kncking it on to Carvalho whose shot is deflected into the side netting for another corner.

Ronaldo tries to shot from a freekick 30 yards from goal but it strikes the blue wall after which Nani tries to get in a cross but Cech claims it well.

Chelsea make their first change with Nicolas Anelka coming on to replace Paulo Ferreira

Cole wins a great tackle, taking the play from Ronaldo before whipping in a deep cross looking for Drogba but he can't reach it and it drifts out of play.

John O'Shea comes on in an odd move by United with Anderson coming off.

Wayne Rooney is dragged off and his replacement is Cristiano Ronaldo, not a bad subsititute to have.

Giggs drives in a low shot from 25 yards which dips right infront of Cech and the ball hit's the goalkeeper's knee to parry it away.

Ballack whips in a wicked freekick from wide on the right which strikes Carvalho in the back to deflect it behind for a goal kick to United.

What a gift from Chelsea who gave the ball away to Rooney who just had to sprint towards goal and slot it past Cech, United level thanks to a gift from Chelsea.

Giggs whips in a corner into the centre of the penalty area but Drogba does well to head the ball away under the attention of Ferdinand.

Giggs floats in a cross looking for Rooney who is the only red shirt in the penalty area and the ball drifts past Rooney and out of play.

Brown gets himself a booking after obstructing Essien who had just flicked the ball past the England defender.

Nani drives into the penalty area and tries to get a cross in but it's a poor effort and it hits Terry who was the first man, he has to come off sooner rather than later.

Rooney chips in a nice looking cross for Anderson but he can't quite reach it and Ballack is left with the simple job of pumping it upfield.

Drogba drives into the penalty area but Ferdinand comes across to make a vital interception before clearing it away and Chelsea have picked up where they left off in the first half.

Second half gets underway here at Stamford Bridge with United needing a dramatic turn around if they are to get anything out of this game.

Half time at the Bridge with Chelsea leading and deservedly so after dominating a frantic first half, Ballack's header seperating the sides at the break.

Ballack gets a yellow card for celebrating the goal, taking his shirt off.

Giggs floats in a cross from a corner which iseasily plucked out of the air by Cech.

Ballack gives Chelsea a deserved lead from Drogba's freekick which is whipped into the far post where Ballack gets away from his marker and heads it back across goal giving Van der Sar no chance.

Giggs takes a freekick from 40 yards looking for Fletcher who can't reach it and it eventually comes through to Nani who can't direct his header on target.

Ballack floats in a cross from a freekick which Terry does well to head down inside the penalty area but Van der Sar collects whilst under pressure from the Chelsea forwards.

United launch a rare attack against Chelsea Nani trying to thread a pass through for Rooney but the England striker is caught offside again.

Ballack floats in a cross from a wide position and Terry does well to climb above Silvestre to get a header in towards goal but it's well over.

Essien sends a low ball into the penalty area which finds Joe Cole who shots on the spin but its a poor attempt and ends up going wide from close range.

Kalou takes the corner but it's a dreadful corner, sending it low intowards the near post where Giggs can hook it away.

Drogba drives towards goal takes on a shot from outside the penalty area but it's deflected behind by Ferdinand for a corner.

Ballack picks out Joe Cole with a great ball and Cole drifts into the penalty area but a heavy touch allows Van der Sar to come off his line and collects the ball.

Kalou takes a corner from the left, sending it in towards the near post looking for a flick on but Fletcher does well to head it away and Rooney then completes the job hammering it upfield.

Essien drives into the penalty area and then squares it across the six yard box but no one in a blue shirt wants to attack the ball and Brown can clear.

Great flick on by Kalou lets in Joe Cole who goes sprinting away towards the United goal who makes a mess of the cross but United can only clear it straight back to Cole whose shot smashes against the angle of post and bar, poor defending from United

Ferreira gets forward and tries to put in a looping cross but it's a poor one and ends up bouncing out of play on the opposite side of the pitch for a United throw-in.

United clear a freekick which Nani latches onto and he sprints away towards the Chelsea goal and has Rooney with him, but Nani goes for a shot from 25 yards instead of slipping in Rooney and the ball flies into the crowd behind the goal.

Nemanja Vidic can't continue and United resort to a similar back four that played in Barcelona with Owen Hargreaves coming on at right-back.

Drogba slots in Kalou who goes down under the challenge of two United defenders inside the penalty area but waves away any protests from the tackle.

Joe Cole swings in a poor corner from the right which is easily headed away by Fletcher but they can't clear their lines at the moment.

Nemanja Vidic has been forced off with that horrible looking injury and it looks likely that John O'Shea will come on, not a gooid start for United

Vidic has gone down with a nasty injury, again, this time catching a knee in the chin from Drogba which has left the Serbian defender with a mouth full of blood, nasty stuff.

Anderson slips a nice through ball for Rooney to run onto but the linesman's flag goes up as Rooney has just strayed offside.

Kalou makes a great run into the penalty area after some nice inteplay with A. Cole, the balleventually rolling to Essien whose shot is well saved by Van der Sar.

Brown and Van der Sar get into a real mix up leaving Essien with the chance to shoot which he does so, blazing a volley just over the bar.

Today’s referee is Alan Wiley as we get underway here at Stamford bridge with Chelsea needing at least a point to keep the title race alive, a win for United will all but hand them the league title for a 10th time.

Manchester United XI: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre, Fletcher, Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Giggs, Rooney.

Manchester United welcome back Nemanja Vidic after he missed the Barcelona game with a stomach bug. Alex Ferguson makes a couple of changes with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez dropping to the bench as Anderson, Giggs, Fletcher and Nani coming in.

Chelsea XI: Cech, Ferreira, Carvallho, Terry, A.Cole, Ballack, Mikel, Essien, Kalou, Drogba, J.Cole

Chelsea are without Frank Lampard after his mother passed away earlier in the week but the Blues are boosted by the return of Michael Essien who missed the mid week game at Liverpool through suspension.