Charity Shield: Chelsea 2 - 2 Man U ( Chelsea win 4 -1 on penalties )

Footie's back !! and the traditional season curtain raiser has the best 2 teams in the country over the last 5 years facing up at Wembley. Carlo has gone with a strong team but a few surprises. The new diamond is in place and Ricky partners JT with Ivanovich on the right (perhaps Alex is resting in lieu of a bid from money bags city. Jedi is in (to play behind Ess, Lamps and Malouda); presumably because Ballack is still not ready and The Drog is up front with Anelka.

First shot on target is from the Drog on 2mins bit its easily stopped by Foster. Rooney plays Berbatov through 2mins later but JT sticks out a foot to break up a good move and a minute after that Ivanovitch hits the bar from a Lamps corner. Its a lively, end to end opening 10mins which results in first blood to Man U as Nani skips inside of Ivanovich and drills home between JT and Cech. Nani and Evra are giving Ivanovitch the run around and he's booked on 13mins. Chelsea look ragged at the back with Berbatov, Rooney, Nani and Park all combining well as Cech has to make two more sharp stops. Chelseas lack of width is worrying and Carlo is up off the bench again. Ash floats a ball into the Drog who feeds Malouda but he flashes it wide when a more controlled effort was needed. Ash then gets round the back and stands up a great ball but the in rushing Essien heads over. Chelsea are well in the game now as Anelka cuts in from the left and his drive is well parried by Foster. With 2mins to go a short Nani corner finds Fletcher who draws another good save from Cech but Chelsea go straight up the other end and a Malouda cross find the Drog but Foster parries again. Thats the last meaningful action of the half.

Second half is underway and Bozzy is on for Ivanovich but its Man U who again start the sharper however on 52mins Ricky initially works the ball across to Lamps and Malouda, and when the final cross comes in, he's on hand to nod home as the ball breaks from Drogba. Its 1-1 and the Blues are on the move now. On the hour, Nani takes a tumble and is eventually replaced by Valencia quickly followed by Ballack replacing the Jedi - Essien drops to the holding role.The games contentious moment comes on 74mins as Ballack checks Evra but the ref plays advantage however the ball breaks away to Chelsea and eventually Lamps slots home off the post. Man U are furious but its 2-1 to Chelsea. Its nearly 3 as the Drog breaks through but Foster gets down sharply to his left. Man U bring on Giggs, Fabio, Scoles and Owen whilst Chelsea bring on Deco for Malouda. Evra comes flying in on Ballack to exact some revenge and gets booked for his efforts. With 8mins to go Kalou replaces Anelka and who knows what the formation is now. Carlo's prowling the technical area with 2mins on the clock and the Blues are playing keep ball. We're into added time but with the clock approaching 92mins Giggs plays in Rooney who nips the ball past Cech to make it 2 - 2 and consign the game to penalties.

The lottery is eventually settled by 2 saves from Cech and conversions from Lamps, Ballack, the Drog and Kalou. Its our first trophy of the season - Come on you Blues !!