Goal of the day: Demba Ba (Chelsea) vs Man United
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A spectacular strike from Demba Ba saw Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
Fatigue had been a buzz word prior to kick-off, with both clubs playing on one day's rest.
In a game lacking any real quality, it appeared as though a moment of magic would be required to settle the tie, and Ba provided the former on 49 minutes.
Juan Mata seemingly had few options when he picked up the ball in a central area in the middle of the United half.
But the Spaniard's feet are in perfect sync with his sharp football brain, and he picked out Ba's run with a perfectly weighted chipped pass.
After watching the ball drop over his shoulder, the 27-year-old swivelled on the slide to hook a superb right-foot volley into the top left-hand corner with David de Gea rooted to the spot.
"This is one of our best best goals this season for sure. It had very good technique and was very good difficult," Chelsea boss Rafa Benítez told a press conference.
Ba said of his goal on ITV Sport: "It was a brilliant pass from Juan as well. For Newcastle I scored quite a similar goal against Man United - it reminded me of that."
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also had a feeling of déjà vu when watching Ba's goal.
He told ITV1: "We spoke about Ba, we had the experience from Newcastle a couple of years back when he scored exactly the same type of goal. We were caught napping, to be honest."
The Senegalese striker was on target when Newcastle beat United 3-0 in January last year.
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| Chelsea striker Demba Ba volleys in the winning goal against Manchester United Photo: Reuters |
Fatigue had been a buzz word prior to kick-off, with both clubs playing on one day's rest.
In a game lacking any real quality, it appeared as though a moment of magic would be required to settle the tie, and Ba provided the former on 49 minutes.
Juan Mata seemingly had few options when he picked up the ball in a central area in the middle of the United half.
But the Spaniard's feet are in perfect sync with his sharp football brain, and he picked out Ba's run with a perfectly weighted chipped pass.
After watching the ball drop over his shoulder, the 27-year-old swivelled on the slide to hook a superb right-foot volley into the top left-hand corner with David de Gea rooted to the spot.
"This is one of our best best goals this season for sure. It had very good technique and was very good difficult," Chelsea boss Rafa Benítez told a press conference.
Ba said of his goal on ITV Sport: "It was a brilliant pass from Juan as well. For Newcastle I scored quite a similar goal against Man United - it reminded me of that."
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson also had a feeling of déjà vu when watching Ba's goal.
He told ITV1: "We spoke about Ba, we had the experience from Newcastle a couple of years back when he scored exactly the same type of goal. We were caught napping, to be honest."
The Senegalese striker was on target when Newcastle beat United 3-0 in January last year.
