Chelsea's bid to win an unprecedented four titles
in one season stayed on course when Damien Duff gave Jose Mourinho's
Blues a 2-1 victory over
Manchester United in a League Cup semifinal Wednesday.
The victory puts Chelsea in the title game against seven-time League
Cup champion Liverpool on Feb 27 in Cardiff.
Chelsea has a 10-point lead in the Premier League and is going strong
in the Champions League and FA Cup competitions.
"It is possible to win all four, it is possible to win nothing," said
Mourinho, Chelsea's first-year manager.
Last year, Mourinho's Porto team from Portugal won the Champions
League, Europe's most prestigious competition, beating Manchester United
on the way to the title. But Mourinho knows the added games of all the
tournaments this year are bound to take a physical toll on his club.
"To win four is very, very, very, very difficult," he said. "Not
impossible but very difficult."
The loss ended Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson's record of 19
games unbeaten in domestic cup semifinals.
Ferguson is still chasing the Champions League and FA Cup. His team is
11 points behind Chelsea and a point shy of defending champion Arsenal in
the Premier League.
"You would think it would happen sometime, but this is the lesser of
the tournaments you would want to get knocked out of," Ferguson said. "But
it's a fantastic record and it's disappointing."
Duff curled in a crossfield free kick five minutes from the end at Old
Trafford to give Chelsea a 2-1 aggregate triumph after a 0-0 draw in the
first leg at Stamford Bridge.
Frank Lampard gave the London-based Blues the lead in the 29th minute, and Ryan
Giggs tied it for the Reds in the 67th.
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-27 10:29
