Sport 14-01-2005 Carling Cup Round-Up who: Manchester United what: Draw 0-0 with Chelsea in Carling Cup semi-final first leg where: Stamford Bridge, LONDON when: Wednesday night snippet: If Chelsea are going to win an historic "quadruple" by ending the season as Premiership champions and winners of the FA Cup, Carling Cup and Champions` League, "they`ll have to do it the hard way," says The Mirror`s Martin Lipton. And after Wednesday night`s 0-0 draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final, they showed that "they are human after all". "Last night, despite fielding what was only two players - Petr Cech and the suspended Arjen Robben - short of his best side, Chelsea`s remorseless machine came off the sleepers," continues Lipton, "derailed by what was no more than a half-strength United outfit." Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho all but accused Sir Alex Ferguson of bullying referee Neale Barry into favouring Manchester United in the second half. "You saw one referee in the first half and another in the second half," Mourinho claimed. "I suggest the referee did not walk alone to the dressing room. There was someone with him." However, it was reported in Friday`s Telegraph that Mourinho would receive no censure from either the Football Association or the League Managers Association for his remark. The two sides meet for their second leg at Old Trafford on January 26th. Meanwhile, Liverpool beat Watford 1-0 thanks to a goal by Steven Gerrard in the second-half of first leg of the other semi-final at Anfield. The big news at Liverpool this week, however, was not the Watford game nor even the decision to abandon ground-sharing talks with Everton, but the announcement that the club had agreed a £6.3 million deal with Real Madrid to buy 28-year-old striker Fernando Morientes. "On this evidence," remarked Oliver Kay of The Times after Tuesday night`s game, "Morientes... cannot arrive quickly enough." [... more]

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