Poll dishes out cards on night of stalemate

What, after all, must John Terry have been thinking when Dong Fangzhuo, Kieran Lee and Chris Eagles filed past him? Something along the lines of "Who the hell are you?" no doubt.

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No one could blame Sir Alex Ferguson for resting the majority of his Premiership winning players when he still has the FA Cup Final to think about and when he is determined, he says, to protect the integrity of the Premier League and field a full-strength team against West Ham this weekend.

Clearly, he was in no mood to send his seniors down for an unwanted dress rehearsal ahead of the Final on Saturday week.

Not just because one red card could have cost him a key individual but because Chelsea would have relished the chance to prove, if only to themselves, that they deserved to be champions.

As it was, United did not have a shot on target in their first goalless game of the season.

Ferguson avoided a potentially demoralising defeat by giving the three aforementioned rookies their first Premiership starts in a side that would not normally appear in anything other than the early rounds of the Carling Cup.

Jose Mourinho had much the same idea, even if he did start with Terry, Claude Makelele, Mikel John Obi and a number of other first team regulars.

Didier Drogba was given a well earned rest, as were Frank Lampard and Petr Cech.

But it meant a match that for so long looked like being a title decider was reduced to a pointless practice game memorable only for the ferocity of the challenges and the sight of both managers exploding with rage.

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Even when there is nothing at stake, the competitive spirit in Ferguson and Mourinho is always bubbling on the surface.

Ferguson blew his top when Mikel lunged with both feet at Chris Eagles and Mourinho became so frustrated with Graham Poll that the referee had to tell him to shut up.

Chelsea's manager actually thought he had been sent off, only realising he had not when assistant Steve Clarke told him to return to his seat.

The rivalry and resentment between England's leading clubs were even evident among their reserves.

Eagles got his revenge in the second half, albeit by hacking down Shaun Wright-Phillips rather than Mikel.

Both incidents sparked ugly altercations, while a similarly nasty tackle by Wes Brown left the lively Scott Sinclair with a fractured metatarsal.

It was not the way the young Chelsea forward would have wanted to remember his full debut for the club.

The football was far less spectacular, even if Tomasz Kuszcak took enough risks to lose the game for United and Eagles thought he should have had a penalty for a Michael Essien challenge.

As it was, Eagles was booked for the foul on Wright-Phillips that followed.

If United's players received a respectful welcome from their opponents, the opposing fans were rather less sporting.

They delivered a cacophony of boos, which must have been a new experience for the youngsters.

That reluctance to acknowledge United as champions was shared by Mourinho in his programme notes.

He might have congratulated them on their ninth Premiership title but he had to have one last dig.

"This game should have been played on April 18 when the title race was open and the distance was three points," he said.

"To have Chelsea- Manchester United in the fixtures on the day of a possible FA Cup semi-final was not a great decision."

Perhaps not, but neither was the decision to rest six players for the key encounter with Bolton.

The grudge match continued on the pitch. Wound up, seemingly, by a challenge from Alan Smith, Mikel sent Eagles flying through the air and was fortunate to escape with a yellow card.

Ferguson certainly saw red and gave Poll an impressive demonstration of his hairdrying talent as well as a piece of his mind.

Gabriel Heinze was also furious and United's captain for the night was booked for dissent. Ferguson, not surprisingly, was less than impressed.

The full-blooded challenges continued when Terry collided with Kuszczak, leaving the Pole nursing an injured eye and Chelsea's captain a sore shoulder.

But the football remained distinctly ordinary. Nothing like a game should be between the two best teams in England.

Heinze threatened after seizing on a free-kick from Eagles, but most of the action was in midfield where the contest was distinctly half-hearted.

Makelele had a chance to strike for Chelsea but sent his effort wide.

Brown was then booked for his bad challenge on Sinclair and the animosity returned when Eagles clashed with Wright-Phillips.

"That's why you're champions," cried the home crowd. United could, however, have been rewarded with a penalty and the fact that "the Gods" were not with them went some way to disproving one of Mourinho's pet theories of the season.

But Wembley, Mourinho would doubtless argue, is bound to be different.