blog.great-save.com

By Danny Wright 

Chelsea hauled themselves back into the title race in dramatic fashion as they clinched an unlikely 2-1 win over Manchester United. The match wasn’t without controversy mind, as a 86^th minute penalty, awarded against Michael Carrick for handball, decided the encounter and put Chelsea level on points with Untied at the top of the Premiership. Michael Ballack was the hero, and he had originally put his side in the lead with a header on the stroke of half term.

United responded, quite typically, and levelled through Wayne Rooney, who capitalised on Ricardo Carvalho’s uncharacteristic mistake. Sir Alex Ferguson’s strangely defensive tactics seemingly back fired though, as a side with Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Owen Hargreaves on the bench crumbled thanks to Ballack’s strike from 12 yards.

There was more talking points after the game though, as a fracas erupted on the pitch when Manchester United players were cooling down. They were asked to move by Chelsea groundstaff, but refused, sparking a bust up that saw Patrice Evra, Gary Neville, Ji-Sung Park and Paul Scholes involved with officials from the home side. Meanwhile, Rio Ferdinand has apologised to a steward after kicking her. The defender claims he was aiming at a wall to take out his frustration but caught the steward by accident. United also have injury worries to contend with ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona on Wednesday, Nemanja Vidic and Rooney both big doubts.

Birmingham threw away a two goal cushion at home to draw against Liverpool, leaving them in languishing in the relegation places. The Blues could have virtually relegated rivals Fulham had they not let Mikael Forssell and Seb Larsson’s goals go amiss, but Peter Crouch and Yossi Benayoun hauled Liverpool back to grab a point.

That result aided Fulham, who provided an incredible come back of their own at Manchester City to win 3-2 and keep their survival hopes alive. The Citizens had coasted into a 2-0 lead through Stephen Ireland’s curler and a Benjani effort, but Sven’s Men capitulated much like Birmingham. Diomansy Kamara pulled one back and there was faint hope of survival when Danny Murphy equalised, with Kamara notching his second of the game to ensure the relegation battle goes to the wire.

Bolton and Reading wasted glorious chances to give themselves breathing space; Gary Megson’s men clung on for a valuable point away at Tottenham, drawing 1-1, meanwhile Reading fired blanks in a disappointing 0-0 draw at Wigan. Although a point is gained for both the struggling sides, the two respective managers will feel they could and should have taken more against teams with nothing to play for.

There was more drama this weekend up at the Tees-Wear derby in Sunderland, who triumphed in a thrilling encounter against Middlesborough, winning 3-2. Tuncay scored for Boro to give them lead but Danny Higginbottom hit back for the Black Cats, as Michael Chopra put them in the lead. Afonso Alves though he had claimed a priceless point for his side when he levelled things up, only for Daryl Murphy to head home late in the day to ensure Roy Keane’s safety whilst plunging Gareth Southgate’s men back into the mire. 

Elsewhere, the weekend of come-backs was complete at Newcastle, where the Magpies hauled themselves back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with West Ham. Mark Noble and Dean Ashton fired the Hammers ahead, but Obafemi Martins and Geremi ensured their good form continued with a point.

In the race for the UEFA Cup, Everton threw away a golden chance to go five points clear of Aston Villa, stumbling to a 2-2 draw at Goodinson Park after twice leading. Phil Neville’s deflected effort looked to have sent the Toffees on their way, only for Gabriel Agbonlahor to lose his marker and side foot home. The home side replied just four minutes later through Joseph Yobo’s emphatic volley from a Lee Carsley cross and the victory looked to be going Everton’s way. John Carew had other ideas though, heading home a dramatic late equaliser two minutes after Yobo thought he had won it to level things up. Everton remain in fifth, two points clear of Villa, although Portsmouth look to be out of the running after they lost 1-0 at home to Blackburn, Roque Santa Cruz ending Pompey’s hopes of automatic qualification via the league, a FA Cup win over Cardiff looking the more likely option in two weeks time.