Man United hands nine-man Chelsea first league defeat of season

 Man United hands nine-man Chelsea first league defeat of season

LONDON, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- European champions Chelsea were hit by two red cards in an intensely contested match and defeated by Manchester United 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The victory boosted Man United to close gap on top and move behind Chelsea with just one point less.

Chelsea, who still led the table with 22 points, slumped¹ to their first defeat of the season in Premier² League after nine-round campaigns.

It was also the Blues³' first defeat to Man United at Stamford Bridge in their recent 11 league meetings since 2002.

The Brazilian defender⁴ David Luiz's own goal and Robin⁵ van Persie's clear-cut finish after just 12 minutes seemingly paved the way for the visitor to clinch⁶ a convincing victory.

But the table leaders Chelsea fought their way back with superb response from Juan Mata's clinical freekick and Nascimento Ramires's header in each half.

The pulsating⁷ clash between the two England football giants than became unbalanced when two red cards were shown to the host in the space of five minutes just after the hour.

Branislav Ivanovic fouled⁸ Ashley Young from his back after the winger was fed unmarked to race into the box. The decision of referee⁹ aroused few complaints.

But the second dismissal was different. The red card to Fernando Torres for diving was thunderously booed and protested by the more than 40,000 home crowds. The replay showed that the Spanish forward was caught by the defender Jonny Evans's tackle but the referee ruled it was a dive, showing the second yellow card.

With two man down, Chelsea had to struggle with a defensive-minded 4-4-0 formation in more than 20 minutes.

The Reds'substitute Javier Hernandez left the game no suspense¹⁰ when he sealed the winner from close range in 75th minute.

But again, the dispute appeared. The replay showed the decisive goal appeared to be converted from an offside position, which was criticized by Chelsea's manager Roberto Di Matteo.

Another big match on Sunday was the Merseyside derby. Everton overcame an early two-goal deficit¹¹ and levelled the score to 2-2 with Liverpool before the break.

Elsewhere, Newcastle snatched an injury-time winner to beat West Bromwich 2-1. Tottenham Hotspur outperformed Southampton with an 2-1 away victory.

1 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

2 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

5 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

6 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

7 pulsating   

adj.搏动的，脉冲的v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的现在分词 )；跳动；脉动；受（激情）震动

参考例句：

• Lights were pulsating in the sky. 天空有闪烁的光。
• Spindles and fingers moved so quickly that the workshop seemed to be one great nervously-pulsating machine. 工作很紧张，全车间是一个飞快的转轮。 来自子夜部分

8 fouled   

v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• Blue suit and reddish-brown socks!He had fouled up again. 蓝衣服和红褐色短袜！他又搞错了。
• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories. 整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。

9 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

10 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。