AS ALEX FERGUSON conceded, Manchester City now have two hands on the Premier League trophy.
All they have to do is lift themselves one more time to finally life the piece of silverware itself. At the very least, though, Ferguson’s United team have put it up to them again. A first win in three (a statistic in itself that tells a lot), against Swansea, ensured that City will have to match whatever United do at Sunderland at home to QPR.
But then, unlike Sunderland, Mark Hughes’ side themselves have something to play for. Djibril Cisse’s dramatic last-minute winner against Stoke City means that they will be looking to preserve their Premier League status at the expense of either Wigan or Bolton, the latter of which shambolically lost a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 and drop back into the bottom four.
All of that – as well as Tottenham’s dropped points to Villa – mean that, in a rare occasion, all of the Premier League’s main battles will go right to the wire: the Champions League, relegation and, of course, the title itself. Admittedly, there are differences in the degrees of drama.
After today, it’s very difficult to not see Manchester City driving on to win the title. Indeed, they’ve now put in two hugely convincing performances in consecutive crunch games. That, to be fair, is the mark of deserving champions.
Roberto Mancini, meanwhile, made the kind of move that wins championships. With City struggling to open Newcastle up – and with a poor record for scoring key goals after the hour-mark this season – the Italian made a counter-intuitive move by removing a creator in Samir Nasri for Nigel De Jong. That, however, removed all defensive responsibilities from Yaya Toure and allowed him to drive forward for what may well end up as this season’s decisive goals. In every sense, City stepped up.
Yes, they did bottle it in April. And, yes, they’ve been given a rare second chance from United. But, so far, they’ve not just taken it. They’ve grabbed it.
For a brief spell at Old Trafford, meanwhile, it seemed a rarely focused United would rack up the kind of rout that actually made any goal-difference race interesting. Inevitably, Swansea collected themselves. The mere 2-0 win means United are looking for a favour from their old hero Hughes.
Of course, for Hughes, any favour would be collateral. With Bolton away to the Stoke team that QPR themselves beat, the Loftus Road side really need to at least get a point to ensure survival with their superior goal difference. Owen Coyle will be distraught, however. After 80 minutes, his team looked safe. Bolton were winning 2-0, QPR were only drawing and the Trotters were two points ahead of them and outside the relegation zone. How it changed. But can it change again?
Coyle should perhaps look to the other end of the table for hope. Because, in the Champions League chase, no-one seems to want to secure third or even fourth. After yesterday’s woeful draw against Norwich, Arsenal seemed to surrender their fate to both Spurs and Newcastle. Instead, their slips mean it’s back in the Gunners’ hands.
It’s perhaps apt but a confusing season will end with the closest race – the title – proving the least dramatic.
But it has been the season of chokes. Will we see another?
