It was a brilliant through ball by Ramires, the Chelsea midfielder. Forward Fernando Torres' first touch was a beauty as well, propelling him past keeper David de Gea and within yards of the now-empty Manchester United goal. All Torres had to do was tap the ball toward the net, and Chelsea would be within a goal of equalizing. But Torres struck the ball awkwardly, and the £50-million striker collapsed in a heap of frustration—a perfect metaphor for the Blues' afternoon, which saw a very winnable game end in a frustrating 3-1 loss to Manchester United.

A look at the statline tells a very different story than last Sunday's 3-1 shellacking would indicate. The Blues (now 3-1-1) outshot their hosts (who move to 5-0-0) 22-14, including 8-6 in shots on net. Chelsea also had 10 corners to United's four, and the possession stats were dead even until Manchester began to take its time toward the end of the match. And those statistics don't even include two point-blank shots by Ramires that went right at de Gea, 2 near-goals off the head of defender Bernislav Ivanovic and what should have been 2 easy goals for Torres, including the open-netted blunder.

"I think it was a crazy game," Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas told reporters following the match. "We feel the scoreline doesn't represent well what happened in the game. We had very good chances in the first half, and in the second half, it just didn't fall our way. ... It's a pity for us because we were really expecting to do something here, to take the 3 points. We were confident that we could do it."

United struck first, with defender Chris Smalling heading home an 8th-minute free kick by midfielder Ashley Young for his first-ever league goal. Ramires had his best opportunity just minutes later, as a through ball found Torres on the left side of the 6-yard box with just the keeper to beat. Torres played the ball across the face of the goal, but an off-balance Ramires could do little more than tap the ball towards the net, and de Gea was able to scramble back to redirect the shot.

Having escaped a barrage of Chelsea opportunities, United struck again. Midfielder Nani took control of the ball in the 37th minute, and, leaving Blues midfielder Juan Mata in his dust, struck a laser into the top-left corner of the net from 20 yards out.

Chelsea squandered several more opportunities before United added a third goal in the closing moments of the half. Chelsea centerback and captain John Terry tried to clear the ball from deep in his own box, but it ball took an awkward bounce to unmarked striker Wayne Rooney, who slotted the ball home for his Premiere League-leading ninth goal of the season.

But Chelsea wasn't done, and Torres gave Chelsea its only goal of the match just 30 seconds into the second half. Forward Nicholas Anelka, who had only just entered the game, played a brilliant through ball to Torres, who flicked it over de Gea's head for his first goal of the season.

However, both sides seemingly fell apart from there, and despite countless opportunities, the netting in both goals remained undisturbed. United was awarded a penalty in the 57th minute, but Rooney lost his footing as he struck the ball, sending it well wide of the net. Torres' unbelievable gaffe fell in between shots by both Ivanovic and United forward Dimitar Berbatov that were cleared off the line, and the score remained 3-1 at full-time.

Despite losing, Villas-Boas was happy with the way that his team battled back in the second half.

"I am very happy with how our team reacted to such a negative halftime result, and we showed commitment and desire to turn things around," he said. "We did everything within our power to try to find the second goal, ... but it just didn't fall our way. If it does and a little bit of luck comes in the game, then the result is different."

United's next league fixture is at home against Norwich City on Oct. 1. Chelsea travels to Bolton to take on the Wanderers the following day.