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It was 1.34am in the Luzhniki Stadium before these teams could be separated. Manchester United have left it late before, but never like this. Nicolas Anelka, the Chelsea striker, shot to the left, Edwin van der Sar, the United goalkeeper, guessed correctly and it was over.

After 120 minutes, two goals, 14 penalties, one stupid sending-off and a night that will never be forgotten, United were European champions. Again. Chelsea never have been, and after coming so close here, the blue-clad fatalists trudging despairingly through the Muscovite rain may believe that they never will be, no matter how many millions Roman Abramovich, the owner, throws at the world’s most expensive plaything.

How close did Chelsea come? They hit the woodwork twice, in the second half and in injury time, had a penalty denied in mysterious circumstances and John Terry, the captain, needed to score the fifth penalty in the shoot-out to win it, after Cristiano Ronaldo had missed for United. One hand as good as on the trophy, Terry slipped, shot against the outside of the post and the pressure was on Chelsea again, shooting second with the teams tied at 4-4.

Anderson scored for United, Salomon Kalou replied. Ryan Giggs, making his 759th club appearance and breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s United record, put it to the left of Petr Cech, Anelka tried to follow him and Van der Sar clawed the ball away, strong hands and stronger emotions coming to the fore as United team-mates sprinted to join him in celebration while their opponents slumped to the sodden pitch, defeated, demoralised and spent. Terry was inconsolable, a pitiful sight for such a hard man.

Few could separate the teams before the match and so it proved on the night. The first half belonged to United, the second to Chelsea, honours even in extra time as the fatigue of a marathon campaign took its toll. All that could be said is that, over the season, United have been the better team, played the better football and probably had a tougher route to the final. In that way, justice was served, although it will not stop the blue contingent feeling cursed.

If the match had a turning point, it may have been in the 26th minute of extra time when, after a silly spat over the way the ball had been reintroduced to play after a delay for injury, Didier Drogba, the Chelsea striker, cuffed Nemanja Vidic, the United defender, in view of Martin Balko, a referee’s assistant. It was not a harmful blow, petulant at most, but it was enough. Lubos Michel, the Slovakian referee, took advice and showed Drogba a red card. For those tired of his behaviour it was a moment of karma; for Chelsea it was a disaster. The striker would probably have taken one of the first five penalties and perhaps Terry would have been spared. Would Chelsea now be European champions? We shall never know.

United rode their luck at times, but all winners do. Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager, said before the match that he believes in fate and, 50 years after the Munich air disaster, someone was smiling on United. Drogba hit a post with a shot from outside the area and Frank Lampard struck the bar in extra time. United will point to a late shot by Giggs that Terry somehow cleared and the fact that they could have scored three times in the first half.

And so to the mystery of the night. With the match heading to additional time, Joe Cole broke down the right and Rio Ferdinand, the United captain, came across to challenge with a foot high. A flag was raised by Roman Slysko and then quickly dropped again. Maybe he was playing advantage, although there was none that could compare to a shot from the spot.

Chelsea fans will recall Slysko as the official who gave the infamous ghost goal that led to defeat in the semi-final with Liverpool in 2005. Still, it would not be Chelsea if there was not a whiff of conspiracy.

What must be remembered about the opening goal is that Michael Essien, the Chelsea right back, is not a defender. Then again, Ronaldo is meant to be a tricky winger, so the fact that he was lurking at the back post for his ninth headed goal of the season says much about his refusal to entertain limitations. Essien was the great gamble of Avram Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, and it did not pay off defensively. Identifying the built-in weakness in Chelsea’s side, Ferguson switched his most dangerous player, Ronaldo, to the left flank, where he ran riot early on. When United scored, Essien failed to do the marking job that would have been second nature to a player such as Paulo Ferreira.

The passing move on the right was a joy. Paul Scholes, making up for lost time after missing the 1999 triumph, to Wes Brown, Brown to Scholes, Scholes back to Brown, the ball zipping around Lampard as if forming a cat’s cradle until Brown crossed, finding Ronaldo in a Red Square of space, Essien alert to the danger only after it was too late.

Had United taken all of their first-half chances the game could have been an anticlimax and they were queueing up to score in the 34th minute when Carlos Tévez and Michael Carrick forced brilliant saves from Cech.

Tévez would have got on the end of a Wayne Rooney cross had his boots been a size bigger in the 42nd minute, but three minutes later Chelsea were back in the game. The goal was scored by Lampard and, by his standards, was textbook. Essien hit a shot from outside the area and when the deflection wrong-footed Ferdinand and Van der Sar, Lampard was first on site, his left-foot finish followed by a glance to the heavens. Fate cannot make it right for everyone, however, and with Giggs, Scholes, Charlton and the memory of the Busby Babes to look after, by the end of the night it was no longer returning calls from the blue section of the stadium. Terry could have been treated with greater kindness, though.

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar, W Brown (sub: Anderson, 120min), N Vidic, R Ferdinand, P Evra – O Hargreaves, M Carrick, P Scholes (sub: R Giggs, 87), C Ronaldo – W Rooney (sub: Nani, 102), C Tévez. Substitutes not used: T Kuszczak, M Silvestre, J O’Shea, D Fletcher. Booked: Scholes, Ferdinand, Vidic, Tévez.

Chelsea (4-3-3): P Cech – M Essien, R Carvalho, J Terry, A Cole – M Ballack, C Makelele (sub: J Belletti, 120), F Lampard – J Cole (sub: N Anelka, 99), D Drogba, F Malouda (sub: S Kalou, 92). Substitutes not used: C Cudicini, Alex, J O Mikel, A Shevchenko. Booked: Makelele, Carvalho, Ballack, Essien. Sent off: Drogba.

Referee: L Michel (Slovakia).