Chelsea handed title advantage
It wasn’t pretty, but how often in a title-winning season do teams win matches like this?
Below par, lacklustre, lucky, jittery, but ultimately successful, Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Bolton last night has put them four points clear of Manchester United with four hurdles still to clear. Arsenal have five – starting with Tottenham tonight – but the Gunners don’t know how to win matches like the one Chelsea won against Owen Coyle’s men. That’s why the Blues will probably be champions.
They survived handball claims against Didier Drogba and John Terry in each half, invited pressure from the resolute visitors late in the game and were ultimately grateful to ex-Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka’s close-range header from Drogba’s cross just before half time. Despite what Sir Alex Ferguson thought, it was far from “easy” for the hosts.
Coyle tried to be magnanimous about the penalties. “I don't have a reaction to them,” he said “it's not my job to judge the work of the referees. I didn't see the incidents. I trust in the referee.”
He’d got so far, but he couldn’t hold out for long.
“There were two stonewall penalties out there for handballs. I know Drogba is a world-class player but he could play world-class volleyball for anybody on that evidence. Then there's the second one when Terry handles it. The assistant referee says it hit his shoulder, but it's a clear penalty.”
All music to Carlo Ancelotti’s ears no doubt. After Ferguson’s fairly weak attempt at cranking up the pressure ahead of the game, the Italian will know that the manner of his side’s victory will have wound up the Scot much more than any riposte to his so-called “mind games” would have done. He’ll be chuckling about it this morning.
A failure for United in the early kick-off at Manchester City on Saturday – a real possibility given the recent form of both – could see Chelsea move as many as seven points clear of Ferguson’s men come Saturday evening, with the pressure firmly on Arsenal to keep up. Ancelotti doesn’t need to talk to make his rival managers sweat; it’s all there in black and white.
As is the result from last night. The handball claims will be forgotten about should Terry be holding aloft the Premier League trophy come the final game of the season – admittedly not in Manchester or north London – but how often have Ferguson and Arséne Wenger been the beneficiaries of good fortune during their title-winning successes?
If anything, it is results like last night’s that should make Blues fans convinced that this is to be their year, more so than the recent goal-filled trouncings of Aston Villa and Portsmouth.
The controversial win hasn’t quite got them over the line yet, but it’s handed them a great chance.
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