Weekend Round-Up
Just ten games left to play now and the race for the title could not be closer; with Manchester United otherwise engaged and Chelsea suffering their first home defeat in over a year to Manchester City, Arsenal were able to gain ground on the top two; their 3-1 win over Stoke City cut the gap on second-placed Man United to just two points, with Chelsea just a single point ahead. Unfortunately it was not the results that proved to be the weekend's biggest talking points; Manchester CIty will inevitably have what was perhaps their best result of the season remembered for Wayne Bridge's refusal to shake John Terry's hand as the sides lined up, while Arsenal's win was tarnished in tragic circumstances as the 19-year old Aaron Ramsey suffered a horrific leg break in the second half. Both talking points are discussed below.
There was certainly no let-up in the race for fourth spot either as Man City moved above Tottenham for less than 24 hours before a 2-1 win over Everton saw Spurs move back into the final Champions' League qualifying place. Liverpool also kept the pressure on with a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers, courtesy of goals from Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Further down the table, the relegation battle took yet another twist as Bolton's win over Wolves took them out of the bottom three. The two teams at the bottom faced off as Portsmouth claimed a rare away win at Burnley; their win will prove futile, however, should the Premier League impose the expected nine-point deduction for going into administration later today. The pair are now joined in the bottom three by Hull City, although with just three points separating them from 13th placed West Ham United, any three of eight sides could still conceivably be playing Championship football next season.
Elsewhere, Birmingham City reached the 40-point mark with a win over Wigan Athletic courtesy of a controversial penalty, Bolton Wanderers were a touch fortunate to hold on for a 1-0 win at home to Wolves, while Sunderland and Fulham played out a scoreless draw at the Stadium of Light, a result that extends Sunderland's winless run to 14 games, while Fulham are now unbeaten in eight in all competitions.
Finally, the first major domestic trophy of the season was settled on Sunday as Manchester United beat Aston Villa in the final of the Carling Cup, courtesy of goals from Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. James Milner's early penalty put Villa ahead, but their lead proved to be brief as Owen scored an instinctive equaliser following a rare error by Richard Dunne. In the second half, however, the class of Rooney, introduced as a first-half substitute for the injured Owen, proved the difference as his headed goal was enough to see Sir Alex Ferguson win his 32nd major trophy as manager of Manchester United.
Conclusions and Questions
While perhaps too much has been said about John Terry in recent weeks, there can be no doubt now that off-field distractions must be at least partially responsible for a rare dip in form from the Chelsea captain. Uncharacteristic mistakes against Everton, Inter Milan and now Manchester City could prove to be crucial in a few months' time, if not sooner in his side's Champions' League campaign. His dip in form, however, could end up paling in comparison to the effect of Petr Cech's injury. At least two of Saturday's goals would arguably have been stopped by Chelsea's first choice 'keeper, and with Cech out for roughly the next month, replacement Hilario will have to improve dramatically if they are to still be on top in a month's time.
Speaking of the next month, what are the chances of Arsenal leading the table on Easter Sunday? Saturday's win showed a strength, both physically and, crucially after Aaron Ramsey's injury, mentally, that has not been seen in an Arsene Wenger side in recent years, and upcoming games against Burnley, FC Porto, Hull, West Ham, Birmingham and Wolves are all winnable. In the same period, Manchester United face AC Milan and Liverpool, among others, while Chelsea play seven games in a month before the current top two meet at Old Trafford.
It is perhaps fortunate for Steve Bruce, Roberto Martinez and Owen Coyle that they are all relatively new to their current posts, as their is no way that the talent at their disposal should be stuck in a relegation battle with the seemingly-doomed Portsmouth as well as the blatantly Championship-standard trio of Burnley, Hull City and Wolves. Nothing illustrates the gap in the standard between the top and bottom halves of the league than the fact that a side that conceeded nine goals in a single game this season are expected to stay up, and remarkably do not even have the worst goal difference in the league. While the races for the title and Champions' League qualification have arguably been the most exciting in years, the action at the other end of the table this season has been the clearest endorsement yet for an 18-, or even 16-team Premier League.
In fairness to Wolves, however, we should point out that they did absolutely everything apart from putting the ball in the net at the Reebok Stadium, and manager Mick McCarthy was justified in saying that his team's main weakness is their lack of goalscorers. It seems a long time ago since this very site was drooling over the prospect of a Kevin Doyle-Sylvain Ebanks-Blake partnership at the start of the season.
We won't get too excited just yet, but with two goals in his last two games, there is a chance that Nicklas Bendtner might finally be starting to show why Arsene Wenger has had such faith in him for the amount of time that he has.
Saturday, February 27th
