Ferguson factor fuels United drive for success

When the gods turn their backs on his team, Claudio Ranieri's body language alone is worth the ticket. Watching the Chelsea coach is to see the pulping of the myth that football is only a game. The bonus is that the experience comes without a single twinge of voyeuristic guilt. Ranieri lets the entire world into his soul.

He is the Toscanini of the "technical area" conducting a symphony of joy and pain. Here, the entertainment value was at least doubled when he was joined on the touchline by Sir Alex Ferguson. Fergie is more reminiscent of Rob Roy – and on this occasion his claymore was in full working order.

Still, it was hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for the man with the baton, even if it was true that his late meddling seemed to betray a team that for much of a fascinating afternoon advertised his work quite beautifully.

Chelsea were able to match United in everything but the final surge of conviction which brought the stoppage-time victory that thrilled Sir Bobby Charlton to his bones and must have landed on the psyche of Arsène Wenger to stunning effect. It surely told his defending champions, Arsenal, that United's challenge is unlikely to go away for some time yet.

The worry for Wenger, and the pain for Ranieri, was that the deadly climactic thrust produced by the late substitutes Juan Sebastian Veron and Diego Forlan – a surprising replacement for a Ruud van Nistelrooy, who appeared to be warming up for a coup de grâce of his own – announced more than anything the rampant return of the Ferguson Factor.

Whatever the other qualities that have underpinned the United manager's extraordinary career, there is not much doubt about his prime assets. They are the nose of a gambler and the heart of a supreme fighter.

While Ranieri had devised but then dismantled a game-plan that had tested United to their limits, and may just have found them wanting, Ferguson was, as always, looking for the kind of knock-out blow which ambushed Bayern Munich in a European Cup final a few years ago. When it came, it was a reward for a flying punt on the creative powers of Veron – and the spectacularly revived self-belief of Forlan.

Veron, whom the latest rumours link with Internazionale, sent a heavenly ball into the box that undid a previously superb defence, and Forlan viciously applied his left boot. Instantly, the Uruguayan, who was celebrating the anniversary of his arrival at Old Trafford, borrowed again from the tradition of Evita's "shirtless ones" of Argentina. But at least he retained his shorts and socks and boots.

Ranieri, despite an overcoat that looked as though it had come straight from Rome's Via Frattini, was looking rather more scantily clad. A bit naked, to be honest. His decision to leave Gianfranco Zola – who came on for a Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink reduced to walking pace by a clattering from Phil Neville which should really have found its way into the book of referee Paul Durkin – alone up front while he packed his midfield, was an open invitation to Ferguson's classic last assault.

As Eidur Gudjohnsen, the scorer of Chelsea's exquisite first-half goal, made way for Boudewijn Zenden in the 83rd minute, it was impossible not to feel that he was the victim of a failure of will. It is true that the Icelander, after a brilliantly composed start in which he terrorised Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown with his bold running, became progressively more uneconomical – but he never lost that capacity to strike fear into the heart of the United defence.

Ferguson was right to dwell on United's superior drive in the second half. He said: "It was a big day for us – and it could have a big effect on the championship. We needed a big performance in the second half and we got it."

Charlton, the author of so many Old Trafford epics, was ecstatic. He said: "I'm never surprised when we do it. We do it regularly. The manager gives them such an edge. We want to win every game – we want to win the championship. I'm surprised people are surprised when we do something like this. I didn't think it would have been the end of the world if we had drawn this game, but they wanted the win. Diego Forlan has come through a lot and proved he is an international class player."

What United proved more than anything was that the appetite, which seemed to have dwindled to nothing last season when Chelsea came to Old Trafford and near sauntered to a 3-0 win, has returned with all its old sharpness. Man for man, though, United were less than awesome. Even Roy Keane was made to look doltish by the sophistication of Chelsea's devastating strike after half an hour.

With perfect timing, Gudjohnsen ran behind the Irishman to collect Emmanuel Petit's superbly weighted pass. He then beat Fabien Barthez with the merest tickle of the ball. Perhaps it was the excitement of such a beautifully realised goal. Maybe it was the thought of what such a win on such day would say about the development of his team, but for one reason or another, Ranieri could not leave well alone.

The slide started when he replaced the highly effective Jesper Gronkjaer with the workaday Enrique de Lucas after 56 minutes. Ranieri has plainly done some brilliant work these last few months – but, Saturday told us, probably not enough to win anything better than third place.

David Beckham, a passive figure for most of the afternoon, delivered a magnificent cross which Paul Scholes headed home for the equaliser after the normally immaculate Carlo Cudicini had muffed a clearance. Cudicini, arguably the Premiership's best goalkeeper, redeemed himself, somewhat, with a staggering save from a Van Nistelrooy header, but the damage had been done.

United had the taste of blood. Veron, a replacement for Mikaël Silvestre in the 85th minute, had scarcely the time to break sweat before he sent in Forlan for the killer blow.

Chelsea's Graham Le Saux said: "Our coach says that sometimes the performance is more important than the result. If that is true, we can take some comfort from that."

It left a mournful Ranieri – and who does mourning better than he? – saying: "I'm sad about the result – but it was a good performance. I have reason to be proud of my team." Meanwhile, Rob Roy was whooping through the glen.

Goals: Gudjohnsen (30) 0-1; Scholes (39) 1-1; Forlan (90) 2-1.

Manchester United (4-4-1-1): Barthez 5; G Neville 5, Ferdinand 5, Brown 5, Silvestre (Veron, 85) 4; Beckham 5, Keane 5, P Neville 4 (Giggs 4, 45), Solskjaer 4; Scholes 7; Van Nistelrooy 5 (Forlan 6, 71). Substitutes not used: Carroll (gk), O'Shea.

Chelsea (4-4-2) : Cudicini 5; Melchiot 8, Gallas 6, Desailly 7, Babayaro 6; Gronkjaer 6 (De Lucas 4, 56), Lampard 6, Petit 6, Le Saux 5; Hasselbaink 5 (Zola 6, 16), Gudjohnsen 6 (Zenden, 83). Substitutes not used: De Goey (gk), Morris.

Referee: P Durkin (Dorset) 5.

Man of the match: Melchiot.

Attendance: 67, 606.