United hold Chelsea in semi-final
 |  Wayne Rooney (red) is halted by the Chelsea defense in their 0-0 draw |
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LONDON, England -- Manchester United held out under intense second half pressure from Chelsea to emerge from their League Cup semi-final with a 0-0 draw.
It took a goalline clearance to prevent Chelsea's most recent signing, Jiri Jarosik, from claiming a late winner from the home side but United will claim they deserved the draw after enjoying the better of the first half.
What had been an even-tempered affair was marred in the final minutes when Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo tangled on the touchline, sparking a melee that resulted in both players being booked.
When the two sides last met, on the opening day of the Premiership season, a goal from Eidur Gudjohnsen was enough to settle a drab affair in Chelsea's favor.
From the outset, this represented vastly more entertaining fare, the lack of goals more the product of wasteful finishing than a lack of chances.
Joe Cole set the tone inside the first ten minutes with an airshot as he attempted to volley Mikael Silvestre's misdirected header towards goal.
The Chelsea midfielder made amends for that fluffed effort with a sublime flick for Damien Duff, who went on to strike a 25-yard shot that flew narrowly over the angle of post and bar.
United were bolstered by Louis Saha's return from a two-month injury lay-off and the French striker had an early penalty appeal waved away as he tried to squeeze between Paulo Ferreira and Tiago in the Chelsea box.
Ronaldo was equally unsuccessful in convincing referee Neale Barry that he had been felled by John Terry but United soon carved out the best chance of the opening period.
Unchallenged as he rose to meet Wayne Rooney's corner inside the six yard box, Saha failed to make a clean contact and the ball bounced wide of the target.
As the half hour mark approached, Frank Lampard went close with a glancing header that skidded beyond the far post and Eidur Gudjohnsen found the net only to have his close-range effort ruled out for offside.
At the other end, Rooney fired one effort into the side netting and was only fractionally off target with an improvised volley with his back to goal.
It was not until 10 minutes before the break that either goalkeeper had a save to make, Carlo Cudicini diving to his left to keep out Rooney's header, cleverly directed towards the near post from Darren Fletcher's cross.
United could claim to have shaded the opening period but they found themselves on the rack immediately after the break, during which Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho took the opportunity to replace Gudjohnsen with Didier Drogba.
A mishit clearance from Tim Howard gave Cole an opportunity to try his luck from 35 yards, his aim not quite matching the speed of his reactions, and it took a goal-line clearance from Gabriel Heinze to deny Lampard after he had surged into the box and round John O'Shea.
Drogba's first involvement saw him hacked down by Heinze, a foul that earned the Argentina defender a booking. His second was to draw a good save from Howard after Lampard had found him on the edge of the area from the resulting free-kick.
Another long-range effort from Lampard whistled a foot wide and Chelsea's growing dominance was underlined by Chelsea's introduction of an extra striker, Mateja Kezman at the expense of midfielder Tiago.
Mourinho also put on Jarosik, and the Czech midfielder nearly sealed victory with eight minutes left after a Duff corner found him unmarked beyond the back post, his shot bouncing off Tim Howard's legs and over the bar.
