• Midfielder Mikel missed seven weeks with a calf injury
• Villas-Boas targets Champions League and FA Cup success

Chelsea received a boost on Tuesday ahead of their Premier League game at Everton when Mikel John Obi returned to full training after seven weeks on the sidelines.

The Nigeria international has been out since injuring a hamstring in the 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in December, but was back with the rest of the squad ahead of the trip to Goodison Park on Saturday.

His fellow midfielder Frank Lampard is

It was Wayne Rooney, more than anyone else, who rocked Chelsea, as Manchester United stormed back to snatch a point

After an ordinary first half, the game exploded after the catalyst of Chelsea’s third, fortuitous goal. Juan Mata’s great volley, created by his fellow Spaniard Fernando Torres, had lifted Chelsea’s spirits but their team, devoid of core players – Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, John Terry and Didier Drogba – fumbled their way forwards after Sir Alex Ferguson’s changes worked to perfection.

His alterations were aided by André Villas-Boas’s decision to substitute Daniel Sturridge, the one player who could create a pressure point for the home team, teasing Patrice Evra to the first goal and then drawing the Manchester United left-back into committing a yellow-card offence. Without his trickery in wide areas, Torres was even more bereft of support. In truth, Torres’s approach play was better than in recent games but in delaying a golden opportunity to score when Chelsea were 3-2 up he displayed a lack of confidence. Chelsea never got into advanced areas down the left because the left-footed Florent Malouda was too narrow, particularly in the first half. Mata, also a left-footer, played his scheming role more centrally, and the right-footed José Bosingwa was trapped when advancing into the middle third.

Torres did not receive one cross from the left to attack from an advanced position and his goal famine goes on.

It was Wayne Rooney, more than anyone else, who rocked Chelsea as United stormed back. Picking up balls from all areas he needed to be man-marked. His energy is incredible and his desire to be accurate in all he does is admirable. His finding of space is so intelligent and his forward runs, with or without the ball, exemplary.

Michael Essien, understandably lacking energy, might have attempted to sit on him had Ramires been available to play alongside Raul Meireles. They needed someone with enough energy and discipline to nail Rooney.

Paul Scholes, in the centre, was clinical and Ryan Giggs, calm and classy on the left, held sway. The Blues lacked the confidence to keep the ball and gain passages of possession to take the sting out of the game. They got submerged into the ebb and flow, but they desperately needed to hold the game as United threw caution to the wind. Ferguson had a field day. Even David de

• United come from 0-30 to draw 3-3 at Stamford Bridge
• ‘We fought hard and that point could win us the league’

Wayne Rooney claimed Manchester United’s stunning late comeback here could have yielded the unlikely point that wins them the Premier League title after the visitors recovered from three goals down to deflate Chelsea.

United, already behind to Jonny Evans’s own-goal, shipped twice in the opening five minutes of the second half only to recover courtesy of a brace of Rooney penalties – the second controversially awarded against Branislav Ivanovic – and a Javier Hernández header. The draw leaves them two points behind Manchester City at the top, though the boos that rang out on the final whistle reflected local frustration at the champions’ staggering fightback.

“We fought well and that point could win us the league,” said Rooney. “A lot of teams would find it easy to put their heads down and accept defeat but we carried on, worked hard and, thankfully, got something out of the game. We knew if we got one goal back there was enough time to gain something out of the game, so we dug in.

“Of course you can also see it as two points lost – we understand that – but after being 3-0 down all the City players sitting there at home won’t have enjoyed watching us [recover], the way we fought back and the spirit of the team. They know it will be a long fight to the end of the season and we’ll be there right to the end.”

Rio Ferdinand, whose every touch had been booed by the home support, claimed the abuse directed at him served to inspire. The centre-half was also the subject of chants relating to John Terry’s ongoing court case for allegedly racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother, Anton, at Queens Park Rangers in October. “I got booed by the cfc fans today,” the United defender tweeted. “Well done guys thanks for inspiring me & the lads! That’s like fuel to me! £TeamSpirit”. The Chelsea manager, André Villas-Boas, suggested the booing was “a normal situation in the Premiership” but added he would condemn any “discriminatory, aggressive behaviour”.

There was satisfaction from Sir Alex Ferguson at the comeback, for all that the United manager could not disguise irritation that his charges could not prevail here against a Chelsea team severely weakened by injury, suspension and international commitments. “It’s not easy to come back like that from three goals down,” said Ferguson. “We are a far better team than what you saw today but it’s still a massive effort from our players.

“You have to admire the courage and the character of our team because those are the qualities that will definitely give us a fantastic chance in this league. At 3-0 down you say to yourself: ‘Damage limitation, let’s go home and start again.’ But no. They never gave in, kept going and deserved everything they got.”

Chelsea had never previously failed to win after enjoying a three-goal advantage in the Premier League and Villas-Boas pointed accusingly at Howard Webb for the award of Rooney’s second penalty as key to surrendering the victory. Ivanovic did not appear to make contact with Danny Welbeck with his initial challenge, only for the England forward to hook his leg around the Serb and tumble to the turf.

Villas-Boas remains aggrieved at two goals awarded by Phil Dowd to United in their 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford in September. “In both games against United we’ve had top, top refs, so you expect it to be perfect in terms of refereeing,” said the Portuguese. “But in these two [matches] they have had a direct influence on the result. The second today was very dubious. Too soft … Welbeck’s legs collide with Ivanovic.

“I’m not sure if Howard was compensating for anything from the first half but it was the wrong decision. For them to get from 3-1 to 3-2 was immense. There’s big disappointment, generally, with the way it all happened. In top games you expect top refs and, at the moment, it hasn’t been happening for us. It didn’t happen at Old Trafford with two offside goals and there was a dubious decision today that, in the end, shifted the running of the game.”

The Chelsea manager suggested the incident for which Webb might have been “compensating” was a foul by the home debutant, Gary Cahill, on Welbeck when the forward appeared to be wriggling through on goal. Ferguson believed the linesman Darren Cann should have waved for a foul, which might have seen the centre-back dismissed, and was just as aggrieved at the non-award of a spot‑kick for José Bosingwa’s perceived foul on Ashley Young.

“They should’ve had a man sent off,” said Ferguson. “Danny Welbeck’s clear through, brought down, but nothing, no decision. That linesman, by the way, has given two penalty kicks against us at Old Trafford – from 40 yards away last year against Liverpool and this year against Arsenal – and he can’t see that? I don’t blame Howard Webb. He needed help in that situation and didn’t get it. That assistant referee, who’s all too happy to flag at Old Trafford for penalty kicks, didn’t give them.”

Premier League 2011-12Wayne RooneyAndré Villas-BoasSir Alex FergusonChelseaManchester UnitedPremier LeagueDominic Fifield
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