Premier League race leaves us on the edge

Title run-in, end of season wonder, fighting mediocrity and the bankers


Shane McNamara

Arsenal saw their season go up in smoke this week, morale dropped after the North London derby, which possessed what could turn out to be the goal of the season from debutant Danny Rose, and a first league defeat at the hands of cross town rivals Tottenham in ten years. But a win at Wigan could help them back on to their feet, alas, the Latics were having none of it, 2-0 down with ten minutes left, Wigan had a renaissance, Ben Watson struck first, followed a mistake from the seemingly ever-blundering Lukasz Fabianski which allowed Titus Bramble, of all people, to equalize and a last-gasp winner from Charles N’Zogbia waved good-bye to Arsenal’s title aspirations.
In other news, the title race is still on. Another twist in the story left Chelsea reeling while a mixed seven days for Spurs ended in joy, as they leap-frogged Manchester City into fourth place by beating Chelsea 2-1 at White Hart Lane. Seemingly, this was returning the favour to Manchester United as Paul Scholes’ perfect 92nd minute header past Shay Given in front of the travelling United faithful at Eastlands clinched a narrow 1-0 victory in the derby, giving Spurs an extra incentive to beat their fellow Londoners.
A revolutionary weekend in the Premiership saw Spurs climbing to, but by no means staying at, the promised land of 4th place and a ticket for Europe’s premier club competition - the Champions League. However, United’s title bid could possibly take a turn in the form of Fernando Torres. The Spaniard has been Liverpool’s talisman, but has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. This makes for good reading if you’re a Chelsea fan. With Liverpool’s target man absent, the Blues can afford to play a more attacking style of football when Ancelotti’s team visit Anfield on May 2, but for the time being the focus for Chelsea is on Stoke City. The Potters, who’s Premier League status is secured for another season, have a tough run-in of their own, tricky trips away to Chelsea and Fulham is capped off by a potential title decider in Old Trafford on the final day of the season. In the absence of John Terry, Stoke definitely have the strength and power up front to bully the Chelsea back line and should make for a tough physical game.
Its been one of those topsy-turvy seasons for United, winning three out of four Manchester derbies in injury time and retaining the Carling Cup. They’re still in the title race despite losing 7 games, one of those to relegation prospects Burnley, and throwing away leads against Bayern Munich twice in the Champions League can’t be too good for the teams morale, but Fergie’s men continue to race to the finish line in a league that was all but conceded by United two weeks ago. At the moment, it’s Chelsea’s title to lose as the Red Devils go in search of an unprecedented 4th consecutive League Title.
And what of Liverpool, 18 times league winners, 5 times European Cup winners, struggling in 7th place, but it may not be all that bad for Rafael Benitez and his boys, They’ve got the Europa League in their sights in what could potentially be an all English Final, alongside Fulham, of Europe’s secondary tournament, but a win at home against West Ham would propel the struggling Reds above Aston Villa in to 6th place to maybe enforce that they are still a “Big 4 team”, despite a less than stellar season by their standards.
The closest title race in recent memory may go right down to the wire in a season filled with goals, drama, and financial insecurity. For the neutrals it will be a feast of enjoyable football, from the relegation scrap to the fight for 4th and the title race itself, I can not say the same for the supporters though.

Shane McNamara is a Transition Year student at McHale College in Achill. He is on work experience with The Mayo News this week.