socialmedian: Wayne Rooney and Nicolas Anelka sit pretty above the rough and tumble

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Wayne Rooney and Nicolas Anelka sit pretty above the rough and tumble

Source: The Guardian

Nov 08, 2009

Summary

Artistry and beauty are put on hold as Chelsea and Manchester United fight for supremacy

Winning ugly, they call it. And that was certainly ugly. Roman Abramovich's hopes that Carlo Ancelotti would bring a new age of artistry and enlightenment to Stamford Bridge were put on hold for 90 minutes as Chelsea and Manchester United fought out a bitter contest for supremacy at the top of the Premier League, with no concession to beauty or entertainment.

This, too, is football, thank goodness. The game cannot survive on an unrelieved diet of dainty stepovers, geometrical build-ups and goals of the month flying in from improbable angles. It needs its edge, its bared teeth, its tribal memory of muddy marshes and bloody scars. Just not too often, please.

So what happened yesterday was forgivable, bearing in mind the reward for the winner. Expectations of a banquet of elegant football were always likely to be dashed as the two teams came together in a clash of ambitions, with pride, points and pre-eminence equally at stake.

At times it was like watching two military bands ma

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