Phil Jones scores an own goal, causing Manchester United to suffer a painful defeat against Chelsea.

The highly anticipated match of the 36th round of the English Premier League was not as exciting as expected. Despite dominating possession, Chelsea only managed a narrow 1-0 victory against Manchester United thanks to an own goal by Phil Jones.

This victory allowed Chelsea to overtake Arsenal and reclaim third place in the league table with 68 points, one point ahead of the "Gunners" but with a game in hand.

Entering the match, manager Alex Ferguson continued to surprise by leaving striker Wayne Rooney on the bench and placing his trust in Robin van Persie. The goalkeeper was also not De Gea as usual, but Lindegaard.

On Chelsea's side, Fernando Torres also had to give up his position to Demba Ba.

Determined to secure all three points to gain an advantage in the race for the Top 4, Chelsea launched an attack immediately after the opening whistle.

In the 3rd minute, following a cross from the right wing by Juan Mata, Demba Ba had a chance to score. However, the Senegalese striker's clumsy handling resulted in the ball going wide.

Just four minutes later, the "Blues" squad created another dangerous situation towards Lindegaard's goal, but once again Ba proved unlucky and missed a volley, a rather unfortunate miss.

MU are causing quite a bit of disappointment in the early minutes of the match as they have to drop relatively low to contest the ball despite playing at home.

In the 14th minute, MU fans had another scare when the ball hit the post after a shot from Oscar.

In the 19th minute, MU had their first dangerous opportunity when Cleverley delivered a very dangerous cross from the right wing, but unfortunately Anderson was unable to get to it in time to finish.

Shortly afterwards, Cleverley unleashed a dangerous long-range shot, but the ball deflected off Anderson.

Chelsea were repeatedly sending crosses into the box from the right wing, towards Juan Mata's position, but the Manchester United defense remained alert and controlled the situations well.

In the 42nd minute, Giggs delivered a delicate pass into the penalty area for van Persie to run onto and shoot just wide of the post. Earlier, David Luiz tried his luck with a shot from about 35 meters.

In the 44th minute, van Persie had a header but the ball went straight to Cech.

The first half ended 0-0. The first half of the match was not as exciting as expected. While Chelsea's attacks lacked finesse, MU was quite cautious.

In the second half, the game became more open as both teams pushed forward in search of a goal.

In the 52nd minute, Phil Jones had the ball in the penalty area but instead of shooting, he made an inaccurate lofted pass.

Chelsea responded just four minutes later when Lampard surged forward and took a shot after a cross from Mata, but the ball went over the crossbar.

In the 67th minute, Chelsea had a good chance with a free kick from 25 meters, but unfortunately Mata's shot couldn't get past the wall. Immediately afterwards, MU made two substitutions, Buttner replacing Cleverley and Rooney replacing Anderson.

In the 77th minute, Mata missed another opportunity when he failed to head the ball accurately after a precise cross from Lampard.

In the 83rd minute, it was Luiz's turn to miss an opportunity to break the deadlock for Chelsea when he missed a free kick from about 20 meters.

Chelsea's attacking efforts were finally rewarded in the 87th minute. Winning the ball back in midfield, Chelsea launched an attack and passed it to Mata. The Spanish winger took a left-footed shot; the ball wasn't powerful but deflected off a Manchester United defender, leaving Lindegaard completely helpless. Chelsea took a 1-0 lead.

The goal wasn't credited to Mata; it was an own goal by Phil Jones.

The goal conceded woke MU up. But Sir Alex's players couldn't do much with so little time left in regular time. Furthermore, Rafael received a direct red card after deliberately kicking Luiz, who had already fallen to the ground.

The match ended with a 1-0 victory for Chelsea.

Also in round 36, the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool was rather dull and ended goalless.

Starting lineup:

Manchester United:Lindegaard; Rafael, Evans, Vidic, Evra; Valencia, Jones, Anderson, Cleverley, Giggs; Van Persie.

Substitutes:De Gea, Buttner, Ferdinand, Scholes, Kagawa, Rooney, Hernandez.

Chelsea:Cech; Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Oscar, Mata, Moses; Three.

Substitutes:Turnbull, Ferreira, Cahill, Terry, Ake, Benayoun, Torres.

According to (Vietnam+) - DT