Chelsea come down with travel sickness

Manchester United already had a lot to be thankful for this Christmas after winning the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday, yet seeing Chelsea become the latest rival to slip up in the title race could prove to be the biggest festive gift of them all.

Luiz Felipe Scolari's men had the opportunity to build a 10-point lead over the champions while they were distracted by the tournament in Japan. Instead, they boast just a six-point advantage after tame draws against West Ham and Everton and that gap will be erased if Sir Alex Ferguson's side win their two games in hand - at home to Fulham and Wigan - in the new year.

Perhaps more importantly, United will be going into the busy Christmas schedule with confidence and momentum on their side following their FIFA tournament success, while Chelsea must be full of self-doubt.

Their challenge so far had been reliant on a perfect away record because of a series of disappointing results at Stamford Bridge, but even that's now gone following an ill-tempered performance at Goodison Park.

The trip to Old Trafford on 11 January is looming large on the horizon and the team must improve considerably if they are to get the kind of result that will restore belief in their title bid.

Arsenal and Liverpool have also failed to win in United's absence and Ferguson is certain to be more satisfied with his side's standing in the table than Sunday's win against LDU Quito.

He has history on his side after all, having guided Manchester United to the Premier League trophy in the 1999-2000 season after none of the club's rivals won while they were competing in the World Club Championship.

For Scolari to ensure that doesn't happen, he needs to forget the blame game and concentrate on rejuvenating the dressing room.

After the West Ham game he moaned that his side had yet to be awarded a penalty and last night he failed to appear for the press conference because he was so angry with referee Phil Dowd's performance.

His disappointment though should be aimed at his under-performing players and captain John Terry, whose foolish tackle on Everton midfielder Leon Osman got him a red card and a three-game ban.

Apparently the Brazilian chased Dowd down the tunnel at half-time asking if he was afraid of the crowd, but former referee Graham Poll, who sent Terry off against Tottenham in 2006, insisted he got the decision spot on.

He said: "For me, it is a red card. I'm surprised Phil got it right because I think it was difficult. What the guys don't appreciate is how difficult it is for a referee in that situation. He's sending off the England captain."

For all Chelsea's possession in the match, they had one meaningful effort on target when Tim Howard palmed away Ashley Cole's effort in the second minute.

It was Everton who had real reason to feel aggrieved after making the most of the man advantage in the second half to put real pressure on their opponents.

Chelsea keeper Petr Cech starred in the visitors' goal as he saved firm headers from Marouane Fellaini and Joleon Lescott.

He was a relieved man in the 80th minute when Fellaini's back heel at the near post from substitute Leighton Baines' cross went narrowly wide.

Then it was the linesman's offside flag that came to Chelsea's rescue after Steven Pienaar had bundled the ball across the line.

While Cech was disappointed at their failure to overtake Liverpool in the table, he felt the battling performance put paid to reports of disharmony in the squad.

He said: "There is always a lot of speculation and our answer to that is on the pitch. The way we played with 10 men, if we weren't physically or mentally ready, we couldn't play like that. We were down to 10, but we kept the ball and controlled the game quite well even with 10 men. They had the extra man so of course they had chances from set plays but overall we can be satisfied with a point."