Premier League title race enters the home straight
Just when you thought it was safe to confidently predict the outcome, this Premier League season has still got a few twists and turns left in it. We should have known really.
We should have known that Paul Scholes would stoop to conquer in the 93rd-minute of what had been a largely forgettable Manchester derby at Eastlands. We should have known that Chelsea – lucky to get away with a couple of handball decisions against Bolton in midweek – would concede a penalty for the same offence at Tottenham. We should have known that Arsenal would... well, no. Nobody could have predicted that Wigan comeback yesterday.
The Gunners’ impressive example of how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at the DW Stadium extinguished the faint title hopes that had been rekindled at White Hart Lane less than 24 hours previously. Spurs, the wrecking balls in this end-of-season drama, deservedly beat a lacklustre Chelsea on Saturday evening. Carlo Ancelotti is still confident and is urging calm, but no-one believes him.
Chelsea were well beaten, succumbing to the pressure exerted on them by Scholes, Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United earlier in the day.
If United do win the league, then this was this season’s “Federico Macheda moment.” A last-gasp victory snatched against the odds. They are masters at it. Chelsea might have to be soon.
Their May 2nd fixture at Anfield looks increasingly like being the defining match of the season.
Who’d have thought, after all their problems, that Liverpool were going to have a say in the title race, but how the Reds approach their clash with the Blues could well be crucial in the destination of the trophy.
They’ll probably be out of the running for a Champions League place, they might be in the Europa League final and they’ll be watched by supporters who will be desperate to see anyone other than Manchester United win the league. Ferguson won’t like it, but motivation could be thin on the ground for Rafael Benitez and the Reds, which plays into Chelsea’s hands.
Not that the top two’s next fixtures aren’t tricky. United entertain Spurs while Chelsea host Stoke, and while Harry Redknapp’s insistence that he’s already happy with his six points from consecutive matches against the top three because he’d “have taken five” hints at a defensive approach at Old Trafford, the visitors will at least be a difficult hurdle to pass. Stoke are firmly mid-table, but will still give it a go at Stamford Bridge, and we know by now not to take anything for granted during this campaign.
It all makes for compelling viewing then, and while Chelsea must still be slight favourites, no-one could confidently predict that they will be victorious come May.
Least of all Ancelotti, no matter how much he insists otherwise.
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