Counting down to the Chelsea-Manchester United encounter at Stamford Bridge, this is our choice of classic matches at no 5.

By Dez Corkhill

In October 1999, Chelsea were only emerging into the mega-Club that they have become. Manchester United - then as now - were reigning League and Champions League holders. The Blues from Stamford Bridge were still very much in United's shadow. That made this result such a shock to the system. Add the little matter that Manchester United were on an unbeaten run of 29 matches, and that they would retain the Title, and you get an idea of how much of an upset this result was.

Consider also that, going into the game, Chelsea had failed to score against United in their three previous home games. That changed in the first minute when Gus Poyet put Chelsea ahead thanks to an error by Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi. This was to be one of the few games in Taibi's Manchester United career. One to forget. Within 16 minutes, Chelsea were 2-0 up thanks to Chris Sutton.

Any hopes United had of winning evaporated when Nicky Butt received a straight red mid-way through the half after a tangle with Dennis Wise. It opened the floodgates - a rare feat against Manchester United in any era. With Wise pulling the strings from midfield, Poyet added his second ten minutes after half-time. When it's not your day, it really all goes against you. A Henning Berg own-goal and a late strike for Jody Morris handed United their biggest ever loss to Chelsea.

Since then, of course, this fixture has grown to epic proportions, but in October 1999, the idea of Chelsea humiliating United in the way they did was Fantasy League stuff.

Ahead in the series:

Chelsea 0, Manchester United 2 (September 1964)

Chelsea 5, Manchester United 6 (October 1954)

Chelsea 3, Manchester United 5 (January 1998)

Chelsea 3, Manchester United 0 (April 2006)