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Chelsea defender David Luiz was the centre of attention after
scoring in their 2-1 comeback win at home to Manchester United on Tuesday as
visiting manager Alex Ferguson unleashed another rant at the match officials.

United led with a Wayne Rooney goal after half an hour but
Brazil centre back Luiz slammed home a well-taken equaliser nine minutes into
the second half and Frank Lampard completed the turnaround 11 minutes from time
with a penalty.

United had centre back Nemanja Vidic sent off in stoppage time
for a second booking but Ferguson was incensed that Luiz had not suffered the
same fate earlier and was also unhappy with the penalty given after Chris
Smalling tripped Yuri Zhirkov.

“The penalty kick was so soft but we played very well.

It was a great performance by us. We didn’t deserve that,”
Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“That’s three years in a row referees’ decisions have changed
the game (here).”

Luiz was booked by referee Martin Atkinson for a foul after 61
minutes then appeared fortunate to escape a second yellow card after flattening
Rooney.

“It was incredible. Even before that he’d done Chicharito
(Javier Hernandez) off the ball. He’d done him late. Nothing done, the
referee’s in front of it,” added Ferguson.

“He (Luiz) does Rooney clear as day, he’s six yards from it, he
doesn’t do anything. These are decisions that change the game and he’s going to
be refereeing every week.”

Proud Ferguson

Ferguson, who said before the game that Rooney was lucky not to
have been banned after a clash with Wigan Athletic’s James McCarthy at the
weekend, added:

“I’m proud of the players. They’ve endured a lot of decisions
against them but they’ve come through it, they’ve done their best and created
good chances.” Chelsea’s win took them within 12 points of leaders United and,
asked if they were back in the title race, Ferguson said: “If they get
decisions like tonight then it can change everything. They got a lot of
decisions that surprised me.”

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti did not want to discuss the
officials but said Luiz might have been lucky.

“There was a lot of intensity and it was not easy for the
referee to decide every time,” he said. “There was a lot going on on the pitch
so the referee decided he didn’t see this.” The Italian preferred to
concentrate on the spirit shown by his side after they had been outplayed in
the first half.

“We kept going with strength, intensity and power in our performance
against a fantastic United team,” he said.

“We actually started well but at halftime I told them that we
had to do it for 45 minutes, not just 15.

“It was not easy to come back but we had a good balance in the
second half.” The win took Chelsea back into the top four but Ancelotti said
the champions had no realistic hope of catching United, who are four points
ahead of Arsenal having played a game more.

“It’s too far, we can’t think we can get to the top,” he said.
“But the victory was important for us and our confidence.” Midfielder Lampard
added: “We’re still a lot of points behind but all we could do was win the
game.

“United are deservedly top but we’ve still got some fight in us and we
showed that tonight.”