IN THE END, there was actually some football.
And a lot of it was very good football. And very meaningful football.
There were relatively big changes in all of the table’s mini-leagues. Manchester United temporarily went back to the table; Tottenham stayed in the title race and took full command of third; Arsenal moved into fourth and Wigan claimed a massive win at the bottom as many of their main rivals struggled.
But, of course, few are talking about the fall-out of the actual football. Most are talking about the furore.
In short: Luis Suarez refused to shake Patrice Evra’s hand; Kenny Dalglish refused to acknowledge it and Alex Ferguson decided to make the most of it, declaring that the Uruguayan should never play for Liverpool again and that he was a “disgrace” and “could have caused a riot”.
As much as Ferguson did stoke the fires further with his comments, he did at least condemn Evra for abrasively celebrating right in front of Suarez at end.
By that point, Dalglish himself failed to appear for the official post-match press conference. But, prior to that, he did seem to take Liverpool’s severe siege mentality past the point where it had become any way understandable as he accused Sky of creating the controversy.
In some ways, though, all of the controversy cast a veil over what was a poor, shapeless performance from Liverpool. Despite a scrappy first half, United could have won the game by a lot more than 2-1 as a sweeping Wayne Rooney double just after half-time gave them the platform to command the game.
Despite United’s control, however, there did threaten to be a theatrical finish as Suarez capitalised on a Rio Ferdinand error to make it 2-1 around 10 minutes from the end. Ultimately Ferguson’s side, held on.
And in more than one way.
The end result meant that United have come through their most difficult period of the season – Arsenal away, Chelsea away, Liverpool home – with seven points from nine games to temporarily go ahead of Manchester City. At the least, it will put a lot of pressure on Roberto Mancini’s side to win at Aston Villa and create a title race that looks likely to go right to the wire.
And that title race mightn’t yet exclude Tottenham as they stormed to a 5-0 win over Newcastle United. After a protracted trial for Harry Redknapp, this match was really over in about six minutes as Emmanuel Adebayor set up early goals for Benoit Assout-Ekotto and Louis Saha. Adebayor would end up creating another two for Saha, again, and Kranjcar before finally getting on the scoresheet himself.
That result also meant that Newcastle did not jump into fourth when the opportunity presented itself after Chelsea had been beaten by Everton. Instead, it’s Arsenal who now sit there as Arsene Wenger’s side claimed what may well end up their most significant result of the season.
After weeks of turmoil and after James McClean – defying Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad selection – had given Sunderland the lead, Arsenal stormed back to make it 2-1 in the 88th minute. And that result was all the more impressive since neither of the goals featured Robin van Persie. Rather, there was a real element of romance. After Aaron Ramsey had equalised with a shot that hit both posts before squirming in, Thierry Henry struck a volley thanks to magnificent work from the previously maligned Andriy Arshavin.
Thierry Henry celebrates his winner against Sunderland. PA
It meant they jumped ahead of Chelsea on goal difference, as Andre Villas-Boas’s team slumped to a miserable 2-0 defeat at Everton. Steven Pienaar set the tone with an early goal before Denis Stracqualursi sealed the win, as many of the away fans chanted at their manager “you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Interestingly, at the Reebok Stadium, Owen Coyle also experienced a few boos as Bolton fell 2-1 at home to Wigan. That result could also prove symbolic given its nature. After months in which they looked like pushovers, Roberto Martinez’s team seemed to illustrate a new resolve as they recovered from Mark Davies’s relatively late equaliser to Gary Caldwell’s late header to win it late on thanks to James McArthur.
Down at the bottom, QPR also lost to Blackburn 3-2 although they can take some heart from the fact they came from 3-0 down to make it 3-2 to really push Steve Kean’s team at the end.
Either way, it is still very difficult to pick out three teams to go down.
Of course, part of that is down to the fact that the newly-promoted teams have done so well. And, in the battle between the most upwardly mobile, Norwich just about secured a 3-2 draw at the Liberty Stadium despite heavy Swansea pressure at the end. Danny Graham and Grant Holt – taking his league tally into double figures – both struck twice but, with the former’s second coming as a penalty near the end to make it 3-1, Anthony Pilkington’s deflected strike for Norwich ultimately proved decisive.
Elsewhere in the middle of the table, Fulham held on to beat Stoke 2-1.
