Sir Alex Ferguson admitted Manchester United had only themselves to blame for failing to kill off Chelsea before Salomon Kalou rescued a 1-1 draw in Sunday's Premier League showdown.

Korea Republic winger Park Ji-Sung put United ahead in the 18th minute at Stamford Bridge, but Ferguson's side couldn't get the crucial second goal. Kalou punished them as he came off the bench to level with 10 minutes to go, leaving United lagging six points behind Chelsea and seven adrift of leaders Arsenal.

"We started the game well and I thought we dominated it," Ferguson said. "If anything we should have been going for the jugular when it was 1-0.

We started to drop off the pace a bit in terms of the speed we were playing at. That was a bit of a disappointment because it allowed them to regroup at half-time
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reflects on his team's draw with Chelsea

"I feel we have missed a good chance obviously. If we had had a bit more energy we would have been OK. .

"Didier Drogba is a big physical force and they could knock long balls to him and change the type of game it is. We started to give the ball away in the second half, and that got them back into the game. They had a couple of chances, but that's about all they had."

Although United have won just one of their first four league matches, Ferguson believes they will make up ground once Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov are fully fit.

"It was a theme in the press that Chelsea could have gone nine points clear. But we've had a tough start. We threw the game away at Anfield (United lost last weekend against Liverpool), we've come here and we have played Portsmouth.

"It's difficult to say where it places us but what I do know is we will be OK. The players will get minutes on the clock and Berbatov and Ronaldo will get better."

Cutting edge
Park agreed with Ferguson that United's lack of cutting edge cost them dearly. "It was disappointing because we were winning with 10 minutes to go," Park said. "We tried to attack. In the first half they were pressing the ball all the time so we pushed up and played very well.

"We had a couple of good chances but could only get the one goal. We played very well up until they scored. We came to win but we just got the one point, so it's disappointing."

Park's goal was a small consolation for the disappointment of being left out of last season's UEFA Champions League final against Chelsea, but he would have been happier with three points. "It makes up for it a little bit but not fully," he said. "It was disappointing to miss the Champions League final, so it helped a bit to score here."

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari was satisfied with a point after losing Deco to a thigh injury in the pre-match warm-up and Ricardo Carvalho to another injury in the first half. "The game was the best we have played because we had many problems," Scolari said.

"With Deco out we had three players who played in a straight line, and they controlled the game because Deco is the man who can receive and work the ball in different positions. They played better than us for 15 minutes and scored a goal. We improved a bit but we missed chances. This was our mistake."

Scolari felt Drogba, sent on as a half-time substitute, gave Chelsea the physical presence to regain control of the match after a lacklustre first half display. "I put on Drogba because he held up the ball and more players could arrive to support him," he said. "I told them that if they fight again, play football and hold the ball more they could get a draw at least.

"The result is normal when you see the chances for both teams. We had more chances but we missed some of them."