London:
John Terry headed Chelsea to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United to extend the team's Premier League lead to five points, despite rarely threatening the defending champions.
Chelsea had been frustrated by United for 76 minutes, but then profited from a contentiously awarded free kick when United midfielder Darren Fletcher was judged to have fouled defender Ashley Cole on Sunday.
Frank Lampard whipped the ball into the penalty area and Terry connected with a glancing header to clinch Chelsea's 11th consecutive win in all competitions at Stamford Bridge.
"It was a bad decision, but there's nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who is already facing a Football Association punishment for criticizing match officials.
"Clearly, Darren Fletcher's won the ball he never touched Cole who has jumped up in the air and then (Didier) Drogba's pulled (Wes) Brown to the ground for the goal.
"The referee's position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous, he can't see anything. He's got a Chelsea player (Joe Cole) standing right in front of him and he doesn't even move."
Chelsea's victory leaves it top of the table with 30 points, ahead of a two-week break for international matches. Second-place Arsenal, which has a game in hand, and Man United both have 25 points, while Tottenham is fourth with 22.
United pressed hard and packed its midfield to subdue a Chelsea side that had scored 19 goals in its five previous matches.
Wayne Rooney was deployed as a lone striker for United, which was missing Dimitar Berbatov through injury and had Michael Owen on the substitutes' bench as England coach Fabio Capello watched.
While hardworking, Rooney was isolated at times and starved of support, although after 10 minutes he turned Ricardo Carvalho but could only hit the side netting from a tight angle.
Teammate Michael Carrick tried his luck from distance in the first half, but Chelsea keeper Petr Cech easily collected and saw the next effort from the United midfielder fly high into the stands.
United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had little do, but the Dutchman denied Branislav Ivanovic in the opening minutes and produced a one-handed diving save to push Nicolas Anelka's shot wide before the break.
United continued to torment after the restart, with Rooney firing wide and drawing a fine save from Cech with a curling shot from 20 (meters) yards.
United resisted making changes until after Terry's goal, but the late introduction of Owen and Gabriel Obertan failed to produce an equalizer.
Also on Sunday, Everton won 2-1 at West Ham, Hull defeated Stoke 2-1 and Fulham drew 1-1 with Wigan.
Chelsea had been frustrated by United for 76 minutes, but then profited from a contentiously awarded free kick when United midfielder Darren Fletcher was judged to have fouled defender Ashley Cole on Sunday.
Frank Lampard whipped the ball into the penalty area and Terry connected with a glancing header to clinch Chelsea's 11th consecutive win in all competitions at Stamford Bridge.
"It was a bad decision, but there's nothing we can do about it. You lose faith in refereeing sometimes," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who is already facing a Football Association punishment for criticizing match officials.
"Clearly, Darren Fletcher's won the ball he never touched Cole who has jumped up in the air and then (Didier) Drogba's pulled (Wes) Brown to the ground for the goal.
"The referee's position to make the decision was absolutely ridiculous, he can't see anything. He's got a Chelsea player (Joe Cole) standing right in front of him and he doesn't even move."
Chelsea's victory leaves it top of the table with 30 points, ahead of a two-week break for international matches. Second-place Arsenal, which has a game in hand, and Man United both have 25 points, while Tottenham is fourth with 22.
United pressed hard and packed its midfield to subdue a Chelsea side that had scored 19 goals in its five previous matches.
Wayne Rooney was deployed as a lone striker for United, which was missing Dimitar Berbatov through injury and had Michael Owen on the substitutes' bench as England coach Fabio Capello watched.
While hardworking, Rooney was isolated at times and starved of support, although after 10 minutes he turned Ricardo Carvalho but could only hit the side netting from a tight angle.
Teammate Michael Carrick tried his luck from distance in the first half, but Chelsea keeper Petr Cech easily collected and saw the next effort from the United midfielder fly high into the stands.
United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar had little do, but the Dutchman denied Branislav Ivanovic in the opening minutes and produced a one-handed diving save to push Nicolas Anelka's shot wide before the break.
United continued to torment after the restart, with Rooney firing wide and drawing a fine save from Cech with a curling shot from 20 (meters) yards.
United resisted making changes until after Terry's goal, but the late introduction of Owen and Gabriel Obertan failed to produce an equalizer.
Also on Sunday, Everton won 2-1 at West Ham, Hull defeated Stoke 2-1 and Fulham drew 1-1 with Wigan.
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