© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, eight matches of the 32nd round of the English Premier League were played, after which the intrigue in the battle for the champions' title increased even more, as the leader Manchester United unexpectedly stumbled, while closest pursuer Chelsea secured a victory. Now these teams are separated by only 3 points.
Chelsea, at home after a fierce battle, defeated Tottenham, who currently occupies the seventh place, with a score of 1-0.
The manager of the Tottenham team, Martin Jol, decided to rest several key players, including Aaron Lennon, Dimitar Berbatov, and Robbie Keane, as the team has an important UEFA Cup quarterfinal second leg match against Sevilla next week. Without their leaders, the visitors struggled to create opportunities, which Chelsea took advantage of.
The only goal came in the 52nd minute with a precise long-range strike from defender Ricardo Carvalho. It was a deserved reward for all the efforts the champions had put in until then.
At the end of the match, after a substitution, D. Berbatov had a chance to equalize the score, but his header was saved by the reliable goalkeeper Petr Cech.
This victory made manager Jose Mourinho and his players even happier, as Portsmouth unexpectedly beat the leader Manchester United 2-1 at home.
The hosts played tactically smart, keeping the game even for most of it and, not allowing their opponents to gain momentum, took the lead in the 30th minute - Benjani's shot from a distance was parried by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who had already made a similar mistake this week (in the Champions League quarterfinal against Roma), and Matthew Taylor was the first to react, sending the ball into the net.
In the second half, Manchester United took the initiative and had several good chances to score, but Cristiano Ronaldo, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and others were denied by the excellent David James in goal.
All the efforts of the visitors were in vain, and the game once again became even. Finally, in the penultimate minute of the match, Alex Ferguson's team squandered their hopes of at least securing a draw - in a childish situation, defender Rio Ferdinand passed it back to goalkeeper E. van der Sar, who was outside his goal, hoping that the defender would not touch it. The result of this - the ball ended up in Manchester United's net.
However, despite this, the Manchester players did not give up and immediately reduced the deficit - the excellent D. James, like his colleague, failed to grab the ball after the opponent's shot, and John O'Shea took advantage of it, scoring from close range to make it 2-1. But that was all the leaders could achieve - the score remained unchanged for the rest of the game, and Harry Redknapp's players snatched the victory.
Also unexpectedly stumbling in the battle for the third place was London's Arsenal - Arsene Wenger's team suffered their first defeat at the new Emirates Stadium, losing 0-1 to West Ham at home.
The hosts dominated for the full 90 minutes - they attacked much more and more dangerously, won many duels, and constantly created chances. But all their efforts were stopped by the impenetrable wall of West Ham's goalkeeper Robert Green - the Englishman fantastically repelled all Arsenal players' attempts to score, both from close range and from distance.
Meanwhile, Alan Curbishley's team had only a few opportunities, and one of them was already taken in the first half added time - Lucas Neill's long pass led Bobby Zamora one on one with goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, and he lobbed the ball over the German's head.
After the final whistle, the hosts were left scratching their heads - fortune had turned its back on them today. It is interesting to note that this was the third consecutive victory for West Ham in the battle to stay among the strongest teams and the third defeat for Arsenal in the same number of matches.
Arsenal's fiercest competitor in the battle for third place, Liverpool, had a much more successful game - in a tough match, Rafael Benitez's team beat Reading 2-1.
All Saturday results:
1-0 52' [1-0] R. Carvalho
0-1 45' [0-1] B. Zamora
1-2 24' [1-0] B. McCarthy (pen.) 34' [1-1] P. Berger 73' [1-2] G. Agbonlahor
48' S. Petrov ("Aston Villa") missed a penalty from 11 meters
4-1 5' [1-0] M. Viduka 23' [1-1] D. Francis 27' [2-1] G. Boateng 75' [3-1] M. Viduka 79' [4-1] F. Rochemback
1-2 15' [0-1] A. Arbeloa 47' [1-1] B. Gunnarsson 86' [1-2] D. Kuyt
1-2 17' [0-1] O. Martins 74' [1-1] C. Nade 80' [1-2] S. Taylor
1-3 32' [1-0] E. Heskey 44' [1-1] N. Anelka 68' [1-2] A. Teymourian 73' [1-3] A. Teymourian
2-1 30' [1-0] M. Taylor 89' [2-0] R. Ferdinand (own goal) 90' [2-1] J. O'Shea
League table
Top scorers:
1. Didier Drogba ("Chelsea") 18 goals 2. Cristiano Ronaldo ("Man Utd) 16 3. Benny McCarthy ("Blackburn") 13 4. Wayne Rooney ("Man Utd") 12 5. Yakubu ("Middlesbrough") 12
