United scores controversial win at Chelsea

LONDON: Javier Hernandez grabbed a 3-2 victory for Manchester United over Premier League leaders Chelsea after the previously unbeaten hosts had been reduced to nine men in a tempestuous clash at Stamford Bridge yesterday.
The Mexican, looking suspiciously offside, tapped in the winner in the 75th minute to kill off a vibrant Chelsea side who had battled back from 2-0 down before having Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres sent off by referee Mark Clattenburg.
A David Luiz own goal gave United the lead after four minutes and Robin van Persie fired the visitors 2-0 ahead eight minutes later.
Juan Mata began the Chelsea fightback with a curling free kick in the 44th minute and Ramires hauled Chelsea level shortly after the break with a header.
However, Chelsea’s momentum was halted when Ivanovic was red-carded for tripping Ashley Young and worse followed when Fernando Torres appeared to have been felled by Jonny Evans but was instead shown a second yellow card for diving.
The home crowd roared its disapproval and then watched on as Hernandez, on as a substitute for Tom Cleverley, poked home United’s winner from close range.
Earlier Everton and Liverpool drew 2-2 at Goodison Park while Tottenham Hotspur moved into the top four with a 2-1 victory at struggling Southampton.
Newcastle United beat West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at home.
Juve stays unbeaten
In Milan, defending champion Juventus extended its unbeaten streak to 48 games with a controversial 1-0 win at 10-man Catania in Serie A yesterday after the Sicilian side had a goal disallowed.
Catania thought it had taken a first-half lead when Gonzalo Bergessio fired in but the strike was ruled out after almost a minute of deliberation. The reason for the disallowed goal was not immediately clear — either offside or a handling offense.

In the aftermath of the decision, Catania President Antonino Pulvirenti was banished from the bench and in the ensuing five minutes five of its players were booked as tension between the sides rose.
To add insult to injury, Nicklas Bendtner appeared in an offside position in the buildup to Arturo Vidal’s second-half goal.
Giovanni Marchese was sent off after receiving his second booking to cap a miserable day for Catania.
Pulvirenti was still visibly irate after the match.
“It’s not only that our goal was disallowed, but Juve’s goal was offside,” he fumed. “It’s the third time decisions have gone against us after the matches against Parma and Inter. An offside goal for them and a good goal which, wasn’t given to us ... What’s most absurd is that the goal was ruled out by the Juventus bench, the linesman had given the goal. The goal was ruled out only after Juve’s protests. It’s a scandal, a disgrace. They gave our goal and then ruled it out after the protests. Mistakes can happen, but decisions can’t be changed after protests from the bench. I want explanations.” The stadium rocked with chants of “thieves, thieves” from the disgruntled Catania fans at the end of the match.
“On the pitch we didn’t see much,” Juventus assistant manager Angelo Alessio said. “The linesman lifted his flag, then I don’t know what happened. No, the Juventus bench didn’t do anything. The linesman was talking to the official and he made the decision. Some of our players who were closer to the incident went to the officials. A mistake can happen and it’s a shame, but we played our game and wasted several scoring opportunities.