Rooney's injury means it's advantage Chelsea in the title race

By Martin Lipton in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 11:01 31/03/10

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Carlo Ancelotti believed he had caught a break at Portsmouth last week that might prove the turning point of the season.

But now the Chelsea boss and his players must be convinced the Gods are ready to work for them.

A week which should have left the Blues reflecting on the consequences of their Champions League exit at the hands of Inter Milan was transformed by one fluke accident in the final seconds inside the Allianz Arena last night.

Yet as Wayne Rooney went down and stayed down, his body writhing in the pain caused when his right ankle crashed off-balance into the Munich turf, the Chelsea players would have been forgiven for a smile of concerned delight.

Concern on the part of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Joe and Ashley Cole, that the curse that seems to enjoy crushing English hopes had fallen again on the talisman of Fabio Capello and the Three Lions.

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But delight at the knowledge that Rooney's absence will cast a brooding shadow over United when Chelsea travel up for Saturday's potentially decisive title clash at Old Trafford, and for a significant part of the remainder of the club campaign.

For United, unlike England, it is not a case of "No Rooney; no chance".

Yet losing the 34-goal hero of the season, the key player, at the moment when you are gearing up for the final assault on silverware, adds up to a devastating blow in morale terms.

United with Rooney are a potentially great team, even if they did not look like one in the second 45 minutes in Munich.

Indeed, that poor display by Sir Alex Ferguson's men, surprisingly lethargic and reactive rather than proactive, allowing Bayern to first edge themselves back into the contest, then take control, would of itself have emboldened Ancelotti and his Blues.

Given the perfect start by Rooney, who scared the living daylights out of the Bayern back line and squandering three more than presentable opportunities to surely kill the tie off, United lost their way horribly.

Part of that was Bayern's impressive harrying, denying United any time on the ball, just as Fergie's men had done to them in the opening half-hour, while Franck Ribery visibly grew in confidence after initially feeling his way into the match.

But United without Rooney, perhaps for the next month, look decidedly more vulnerable, lacking the fear factor that they have been carrying before them for the last few weeks.

Rooney 'out for a month'  

It suddenly puts a huge onus on Dimitar Berbatov, whose arrival from the bench last night - an attacking move by Ferguson - only served to encourage Bayern to throw even more at United.

For all the Bulgarian's extravagant skills, the list of teams he has scored against this season is illuminative: Wigan, Stoke, Sunderland, Blackburn, Hull, Burnley, Portsmouth, Everton, Fulham and Bolton.

None against any of the sides in the top seven and by any standards, especially for a player who cost £30million and is now in his fourth Premier League season, a modest return.

Chelsea, boosted by their own scoring burst of 12 in their last two games - despite playing averagely at best in the first halves against both Pompey and Aston Villa - will feel the wind in their sails propelling them towards Old Trafford.

This was always going to a huge clash, with neither team able to contemplate defeat.

Yet now, even more, the scrutiny will be on.

Can United bounce back from the double blow of losing with the last kick in Munich and also seeing Rooney disappear?

Do Chelsea have what it takes to pick up the baton, win the game and take control of the battle for the crown?

Could a draw, plus the Rooney injury, end up opening the door once again for Arsenal, who will surely pick up three points against Wolves at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon?

That is all conjecture, of course. Yet Rooney's injury, and the blow it landed on the confidence of the United supporters, is fact.

Last night it felt that the balance had shifted, that the tide which had seemed to be running in United's favour, carrying them to the title and Madrid, had turned against them.

Chelsea will have smelled that new wind, will have realised that the Fates had conspired in their favour, rather than devising new tricks to play at their expense.

From a game Ancelotti's Blues could not afford to lose, Saturday suddenly represents one they will believe they can win, with United then left to carry the scars through the spell until Rooney returns, perhaps too late to do anything about it.

The next week will probably tell. For now, though, it does look like advantage Chelsea.

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