United On Fire

Yes.  It was tough in parts and nervy until the second goal went it, but United held their nerve to win the league again.

A Ronaldo penalty and a Giggs winner came after Rio Ferdinand nearly gave away a penalty and Scholes should have been sent off.

But the title is ours. More tomorrow on another momentus victory.  I’m going to watch Match of the Day to feel happy all over again.

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Well, if the Premier League really is a marathon, we’ve just got to that last bit with Manchester United and Chelsea level at the front.  It has turned into a sprint at the death, and we’ll see which team has the energy left to get themselves over the line, or fall over embarrassingly 5 yards from the end.

If both teams win, we’ll need a photo finish, but luckily United would win it then.  Chelsea have to better United’s result.  The last time this happened was 40 years ago and then it was United and City.  United fell over losing to Sunderland away, but picked themselves up to win the biggest prize of all, the European Cup.  The last time the league was won on goal difference was 1989 when Arsenal beat Liverpool in the last game of the season.  I still remember the goal by Michael Thomas.  That was something else.  Arsenal needed to win by two goals and did so, but only in the 88th minute.

All, we can do now is cross our fingers and hope that United are able to do the business.  Wish them luck.

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Well, Wigan, Steve Bruce and Emile Heskey did United a great favour last night, getting a last minute equaliser against Chelsea. The gap at the top is now 5 points not 3. The away draw at Middlesbrough is wiped out. The result means that the title is two games away. Two away wins and we win back to back titles for the first time since we completed three in a row in 2001.

If we win at Blackburn, assuming Chelsea beat Everton which is by no means certain, it means we go to Stanford Bridge with a chance to win the league by ending their unbeaten home record. Some motivation for that game.

Assuming Chelsea win all their other games apart from the United match, here is what we need to do :-

• If we beat Chelsea, we need one further win either at Blackburn or Wigan, or at home to West Hame.
• If we draw with Chelsea, we need one win and a draw against those teams. In this case, we’d win the league on goal difference.
• Even if we lose to Chelsea, we would still win the league with two wins and a draw against the opposition. Again, we’d win on goal difference.

It is not at all certain Chelsea will win all their other fixtures considering their draw last night. They play Everton (a), Newcastle (a) and Bolton (h). Everton still have a chance at 4th spot and need to points to make sure they don’t lose their UEFA cup spot to Portsmouth. Newcastle are on something of a run finally under Kevin Keegan, and Bolton are fighting for their lives down at the bottom, only two points from safety.

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