Chelsea v Manchester United: live 65 min Ryan Giggs and Robin Van Persie are now on for United. Cleverley and Nani make way. 64 min An update from the Associated Press's man at Stamford Bridge: 63 min Mata! Side-netting! He and Hazard combine once again and the Spaniard's searing left-footed shot is just beyond De Gea's right-post and into the side-netting. That was actually a stunning save from De Gea, missed by the officials. 61 min Chance! Hernandez is on the far post to meet a Welbeck cross and must score! But no! Great save from Cech! Better than great...superb! He gets a big left hand to Hernandez's header and tips it over the bar. It was such a good save that the Little Pea laughs about it. Think he may have been offside, by the way. 60 min Bertrand into the book for a cynical challenge on Hernandez as the United striker danced beyond him. United changes coming, and it's that man RVP. 59 min Decent period of pressure from Chelsea, with one or two flickers of a chance in the box. But they cannot create a clear-cut opening. 58 min Van Persie is doing some serious warming up. We've seen many, many shots of him doing shuttle runs in a hi-vis bib. RVP must be about to enter the fray. 56 min Welbeck chests the ball down in the area and eases away from Dave to create a scoring chance...But there's a whistle for a push from the England striker. 55 min Nice interplay between United ends with Cleverley firing a shot on goal. But it's blocked and that particular attacking excursion comes to nowt for the visitors. 54 min Mata robbed of the ball by Valencia with Chelsea in a decent attacking position. Foul? Seconds later Cleverley is in the book for a definite foul - a late and dangerous challenge on Ramires. 52 min Ba is causing Ferdinand some problems now and the Chelsea fans are loving it. 51 min "Just what the game needed," says everyone, everywhere. Mata dinks an aerial throughball into the box. Ba outmuscles Ferdinand, and sticks a long leg out. His touch is a beaut and he sends the ball past De Gea for a glorious opener. 47 min Chance! Nice ball in from Bertrand is flicked goalwards by Ba but straight to De Gea's hands. Nice work to get a shot away from there, though. 46 min United win a free-kick on the edge of the area, just to the right. Nani is over it....But it's straight into the wall. A mail from my namesake Nick to kick off the second half: What I'm doing now - working. That's the thing about working in retail. Everybody expects you to be open at all times! It'll be Christmas day next....That said, Chelsea match is currently on our 55" TV in HD, so it could be worse. 13.30 The sides are making their way back out for the second half... Let's get back to it then. 13.25 Not sure if this is an April Fool or not, but enjoy: WRAP The novelty of a Monday lunchtime kick-off and the history behind this fixture could not combine to provide us with a decent half of football. It improved slightly towards the end but essentially that was a bit of a non-event, low on quality and intrigue. I think I speak for all neutrals here when I implore Rafa and Fergie to consider introducing the likes of Lampard and Van Persie to try and liven this match up a bit. And if that fails, can we please have penalties? See you in 10 minutes. 45+2 min De Gea claims the corner and Dowd blows for half-time. 45+1 min We're into the only minute of added time today. Ba hooks a ball into the box but there's only L'il Oscar to challenge Smalling in the air. In an ideal Chelsea world that move would have played out in reverse with Ba the man in the area. Smalling gets it half clear but Chelsea win a corner. 44 min Confusion in the Chelsea ranks as Luiz and Cech contrive to hand United a corner when the ball needed to be hoofed upfield. Chelsea keeper looking a bit nervy all of a sudden. 43 min Now then! Slight tangle between Bertrand and Nani as the United forward tries to chase a throughball. The Chelsea sub does look to pull back Nani but there's not enough serious contact to merit a pen. The flop from Nani was slightly theatric, too. 42 min It's chances galore at the Bridge now. It's a shame half-time is about to spoil the momentum we've patiently built up. 41 min Free-kick from wide out on the right by Mata is confidently claimed by De Gea. The keeper hoofs the ball upfield to Hernandez. He controls it, turns and lets fly from distance. His shot swerves in flight and very nearly tricks Cech but the goalie sticks out a right boot and diverts the ball away. 39 min Hazard! He and Oscar decide enough's enough and try to make something happen with some intricate touches. There's a one-two and the ball breaks to Hazard just inside the box, but he's a bit overexcited and slams his shot curling shot high and wide. 38 min Nani! He lets fly from long range and sees his shot whistle past Cech's left-hand post. That's more like the Nani of three years ago old. 37 min Luiz dithers on the ball but passes it away just before Jones can tackle him. Jones feels like has to do something so pushes Luiz to the ground. Ref unmoved. 35 min Nani is down with a head injury. The Chelsea fans respond with boos as Mikel is forced to knock the ball out of play. There's nothing there. Just a tap," says Andy Townsend after we see a replay that shows Mikel accidentally brushed his elbow into Nani's face. HARD, HARD man, that Townsend. 33 min Poor Ashley Cole heads for the sheds: 32 min Ramires has the ball in the middle of the park with plenty of room to aim for. He picks out Ba in the box with a very good pass and the striker responds with a shot, but Smalling is there with a very good block to spare De Gea. 31 min Chance! Hazard feeds Ba in the box and the Senegal striker slams it towards De Gea's near post. It's a cracking strike but the Spaniard is alive to the danger and diverts it out for a corner. 30 min We have reached the stage in this fixture where formerly skillful players have resorted to long-ball tactics. Luiz, of Brazil, lumps it long but it's straight to De Gea. 29 min Mata's picked up a case of the Nanis. His wide pass to Hazard and is poor, and easily intercepted. 27 min Chance! Hernandez ghosts past Luiz and across goal just inside the box but decides against pulling the trigger when the shot was on. He takes another touch, but it's a touch too many, and he falls over. 26 min Tiny momentum shift in favour of United these last couple of minutes. Purely territory-wise, I must add. They haven't actually created anything. 25 min Now then! What's Nani up to? He dribbles around the centre-circle, considers a big-time pass, but remembers he's been awful today, turns around, and passes to Carrick. From there United attack via Cleverley but the England midfielder cannot pick out Hernandez in the box. 24 min This is easily the worst FA Cup game I've watched this weekend. Very little quality out there. 23 min An action shot from Stamford Bridge: 22 min Cole is replaced by Ryan Bertrand. Looked like the hammy went as he waved Welbeck past. 21 min Welbeck powers down the right flank. Cracking run past Cole! He squares it to Nani but, and this may not surprise you, the Portuguese's pass to Hernandez is intercepted and the chance goes begging. Looks like Cole picked up an injury as Welbeck cruised past him. Yep, he's off. 19 min Mata bends a ball into the box. It ricochets off Smalling and comes to Ba just inside the box. There's a chance....but from there Chelsea overcomplicate things and cannot manufacture a scoring chance. We've had nothing close to a proper opportunity yet. 18 min Our Henry Winter has picked up on something at the Bridge: 17 min Nani successfully completes a pass. A sideways shuffle-on to Carrick. Should lift him into the 4/10 region in the player ratings stakes. 15 min Ba lays off the ball to Hazard.. And he has a dig from range, but there's too many bodies in the box and it's deflected away. 14 min Another dreadful touch from Nani. This time, on the touchline, he cannot control the ball and loses it out for a throw. 12 min Cole and Mata link up well on the left but the impetus they had built up is lost when the left back decides against taking on Valencia. 11 min Welbeck bursts down the left flank and attempts to gas Ivanovic. No dice. The defender uses his impressive physique to muscle the England starlet off the ball. 9 min Azpilicueta, who became the highest-profile individual since David Cameron to urge people to call him Dave, pops up on the overlap but fails to get the ball in the box. 8 min Boooooooo controls the ball and passes to Carrick in the centre-circle. Andy Townsend picks up on the opening few minutes Nani has endured. Every little flick and touch he's tried has failed to come off. Amusing. 7 min Chelsea keeping hold of the ball in the middle third of the pitch, and United saying: "Go for it, lads. We've got all afternoon. The hosts are tempted into an attack and subsequently lose possession. 6 min Hernandez the target for Evra's cross from the left but Luiz gets some curls to it and heads away. 5 min Jones fouled by Oscar, who earlier caused a moment of panic in the United box with a cheeky turn. His cutback was cleared away, though. 4 min Our man Jeremy Wilson with some tactical analysis: Interesting line-up from Man U. Valencia right-back, Phil Jones in central midfield and Cleverley playing left 3 min Mata to the fore as Chelsea try and carve an opening but Oscar gives it away sloppily, and United set off on an attack of their own. 2 min Ashley Cole, Hazard and Mata combine down the left. The Belgian tries to bend a ball into the box but it's headed away by Jones and United head upfield. 1 min We're off! Ferdinand's first touch greeted with the heartiest of boooooooooooos. 12.29 So up for this....Teams out on the pitch and kick-off seconds away. Rafa and Fergie execute a handshake with a tiny amount of eye-contact. 12.26 NATIONAL TREASURE WATCH: Seb Coe and Roy Hodgson are watching from the stands. 12.25 Top bloke Chilesy and the lads are talking squad rotation. Roy Keane says: "I always agreed with squad rotation as long as I was playing." You classic, Roy. 12.23 United manager Sir Alex Ferguson explains his selection: I tried to freshen up the best I can. We've had two lunchtime games in two days. Lunchtime matches require a freshness in the team and I think I've done that well. Rooney got a groin injury playing for England and he wasn't 100 per cent so there was no point risking it. We didn't want to exacerbate it and he'll probably be back for the game [Manchester derby] next Monday. 12.21 Not everyone gets booed. But you pretty much have to be Chelsea royalty to avoid it: 12.19 I'm hearing that the home fans welcomed Rio Ferdinand to the Bridge with a chorus of boos. The boo is so commonplace in West London now that it's actually how we all greet each other. "Booooooo!....Nice weather today, say hello to your wife for me!........""Booooooooooo! Thanks, pal. Pint after work on Thursday? 12.14 Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez says his team selection is motivated by their fixture pile-up: We have to manage the squad, to play these two games in such a short space of time. The FA Cup is a massive competition and we're playing against a top side so everything has to be good. 12.08 Teams are out warming up at the Bridge. Can confirm that the weather in west London is pretty much as per for the last few weeks. Cold. But there's enough sun for the Italian and Spanish tourists to be wearing sunglasses. 12.05 ITV anchor Adrian Chiles has impeccable taste in newspapers. Here he is enjoying today's Daily Telegraph at Stamford Bridge: 12.02 The ITV coverage begins and it's a Chelsea-tastic montage to kick off. They've done well in the Cup over recent years, is the gist. 12.00 Our man Mark Ogden confirms: Rooney out of Chelsea tie with groin injury, so he'll 'need games' by the time the derby comes around next Monday. Strange season for him.. 11.57 ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley has lifted the lid on Rooney's absence. It's a groin strain, apparently: 11.53 Here's a reminder of what happened earlier in the month to make this replay necessary: 11.49 Well, well, well. What do we make of this selection from Sir Alex? On Saturday he was spinning claiming that the only thing preventing him from picking Rooney was his fatigue following a late-night flight back from Montenegro in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. But that's hardly an excuse he can deploy this morning...Especially when they're 15 points clear the top of the Premier League. 11.40 TEAM NEWS: The first team-sheet has dropped and Fernando "The Mask Of" Torres is the high-profile casualty from the Chelsea starting line-up. But the biggest news, perhaps, is that Wayne Rooney is nowhere to be seen in the Manchester United squad, despite being rested for the Sunderland game. Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Cole, Ramires, Mikel, Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Ba. Subs: Turnbull, Lampard, Torres, Moses, Terry, Benayoun, Bertrand. Man Utd: De Gea, Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Nani, Welbeck, Hernandez. Subs: Lindegaard, Giggs, Young, van Persie, Powell, Kagawa, Vermijl. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 11.38 No-one finds a gem in a matchday programme like our Henry Winter: 11.30 Matches between these two teams do not require any hyping up, but Sir Alex can't help himself and used his pre-match press conference to light the blue-touch paper. Fergie has claimed that Chelsea's recent FA Cup success - four titles from the last six competitions - is purely down to the luck of the draw. Check these quotes out: Chelsea have [got a good record], but we try to win it every year. But over the last few seasons, we've had some very difficult draws. I think Chelsea have enjoyed the benefit of home draws over the past few years, though, and I don't think they have had one hard game in their run to semi-finals over the years. And that helps, there is no doubt about that, but they have us to play at Stamford Bridge and that won't be easy. 11.25 Good morning and thanks for joining me for live coverage of this very welcome slice of Easter Monday FA Cup pie. The fixture list gods have favoured us today, so instead of fruitlessly flicking through those movie channels (that you really must cancel one of these days), we've got a humdinger of an FA Cup tie between two of the biggest names in Budweiser's famous football competition. You think you've had a difficult weekend - it's not exercise when you move from the kitchen table to the sofa - but these two squads played a flippin' Premier League game on Saturday, leaving them with just one day of rest (and they probably trained). But after some canny squad rotation on Saturday - rather more successful from United's perspective - Rafael Benítez and Sir Alex Ferguson have succeeded in getting two teams together so we can collectively finish off the wine and see out the long weekend with some glorious football. Enough chitter-chatter, let's get going with more preamble, including some delicious quotes from Sir Alex Ferguson.