Kalou Earns Chelsea 1-1 Home Draw With Man Utd

Manchester City thrashed Portsmouth 6-0 on the day the club announced their Arab takeover would take place on Tuesday.

A late goal by substitute Salomon Kalou earned Chelsea a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League's showdown at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Kalou, who came on in the 74th minute, headed home six minutes later after Park Ji-sung's 18th-minute opener.

Manchester City thrashed Portsmouth 6-0 on the day the club announced their Arab takeover would take place on Tuesday.

Aston Villa maintained their good start with a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, Everton came from two down to draw 2-2 at Hull City while Tottenham Hotspur remain bottom of the league after a goalless home draw with Wigan Athletic.

Chelsea move level with Liverpool on 11 points, one behind leaders Arsenal who beat Bolton Wanderers 3-1 away on Saturday, with Villa fourth on 10.

Champions United, beaten by Liverpool last week, have five points from one game fewer than their title rivals.

Aware that another defeat would leave them nine points adrift of Chelsea, they started well and Rio Ferdinand hit the woodwork in an early attack.

They went ahead after Patrice Evra surged into the box and squared for Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian, a peripheral figure for most of the match, had his low shot parried by goalkeeper Petr Cech but straight into the path of Park, who turned it in.

NO IMPACT

Chelsea threw on Didier Drogba for the second half, with United introducing Cristiano Ronaldo, but neither forward was able to make an impact.

Chelsea gradually took control though and Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka missed good chances before John Obi Mikel floated in a deep free kick, replacement keeper Tomasz Kuszczak remained rooted to his line, and an unmarked Kalou headed home from six metres.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari said the loss of Deco to an injury in the warm-up disrupted his team and enabled United to take the initiative.

"They controlled the game for the first 15 minutes, we improved some but our mistakes were in front of goal," he told Sky Sports.

United boss Alex Ferguson said: "We started very well and dominated it. I think we started to drop off the pace a bit and allowed them to regroup after halftime.

"We've still got players trying to reach their fitness levels, it's not easy and they started to give the ball away in the second half. If we had just had a bit more energy we would have been OK.

"What I do know is that by October we will be OK. Players will have games behind them and you'll see us at our best."