Watched the Manchester Utd vs Chelsea game at CHIJMES with Sam and Shannon.
I don't normally watch other club's games, but since Arsenal had lost the plot I wanted to see what the league leaders were doing that Arsenal wasn't.
Under normal circumstances, the best outcome for the Arsenal would be a draw.
But these were not normal circumstances, with Arsenal dropping out of the title race thanks to the Bolton Wanderers Rugby Team.
The only scenario which would really give the Gunners hope is both implausible and ludicrous:
Drogba does a "Hand of God" in the 90th minute to equalise, which the referee allows. Van der Saar punches Drogba out of frustration. This leads to a 22-men brawl where John Terry breaks his wrist trying to throttle Nemanja Vidic; and Wayne Rooney stomps on Cavarlho's groin again. From out of nowhere Ronaldo suddenly starts rolling on the ground and moaning and holding his face, even though nobody touched him. The result? 22 red cards. Mourinho makes death threats to Sir Ferguson and is promptly investigated by the police. Abramovich talks to the referee and offers him a 40 million pound bribe to have him rescind the red cards for Chelsea. Unfortunately for him, he's caught on tape and the English FA charge Chelsea with criminal activity and this leads to Chelsea being relegated to the Coca-Cola Championship, Juventus-style. Manchester United are docked 7 points, paving the way for a good old fashioned 2 horse race between them and Arsenal.
Arsenal aren't going to win the EPL, barring the above scenario.
But in the meantime, in the real world, I didnt mind Manchester United, in the apt words of Jacob, "squashing them (Chelsea) like vermin". In fact that would have been sublimely desirable.
So when Saha's intelligent strike went in I found myself cheering with the Red Horde around me.
But Saha went on to blow hot and cold throughout the match, and Rooney (along with Giggs) remained the main threats. Ronaldo was quite effectively closed down by the mercenary Traitor Cashley Cole, who was himself one of the better performers on the blue side.
Makalele remained brutally effective, Ballack seemed to have descended into Gothic thuggery, Drogba was Drogba, and Shevchenko turned out to be Manchester Utd's star player. He didnt do shit. Losing headers, giving the ball back to Man Utd, not bothering to challenge Michael Carrick for the ball, he was Chelsea's biggest liability, and thus Man Utd's best friend. He must have been weighed down with all those millions of pounds in his short's pockets. Or perhaps he was preoccupied with something on his mind.. "What should I spend my money on this week?"
Perhaps the most telling moments came during the subsitutions on both sides. And the contrast between both sides could not have been more stark. Darren Fletcher and John O Shea, while competant, are not exactly in the same league as Joe Cole and Arjen Robben. Chelsea simply did not look like losing, from what can be seen on the bench.
I don't think this will be limited to that match. It could happen to anybody, including Arsenal. It could well be, come the December clash, Flamini and Walcott vs Joe Cole and Arjen Robben on the substitution line-up. Again, the blue substitutes are distinctly superior.
But since I loathe Chelsea's guts, I'd rather Manchester United have triumphed that night. A bitter pill to swallow, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
