So the title race is over. As much as I hate to say this: Congratulations to Manchester United and I think it's fair to say the best team won.
The game started with literally no chances whatsoever, leaving many fans on the verge of falling asleep. But The Emirates woke up after a delightful Arsenal move. Some brilliant, one touch passing found Adebayor on the edge of the box, but the Togo striker's shot was poor and was saved by the legs of Petr Cech. Then two minutes before the break, Julio Baptista outmuscled Boulahrouz, before being hacked down by the Dutch defender. The referee pointed to the spot, and Arsenal had a penalty! Then Alan Wiley called Boulahrouz over, and sent him off! Probably because he was the last man and was preventing a goalscoring opportunity. Gilberto confidently stepped up and you could sense there would only be one outcome. The Brazilian sent Cech the wrong way and Arsenal were in front. The half time whistle blew and The Gunners walked in happily. Chelsea, down to 10 men, were anything but happy.
In the second half, Arsenal started brightly and Chelsea were on the backfoot. Denilson floated in a freekick that fell kindly to Adebayor. He took it down well before firing it across the face of goal. A touch from Gallas at the back post, and Arsenal would have been 2-0 up. Then a few minutes later, a crunching, late, bad tackle from Ferreira left Denilson injured and the Brazilian had to be stretchered off. Sympathetic applause from the Arsenal faithful showed the pain around the stadium. Alex Hleb replaced him. Cesc Fabregas received a standing ovation as he jogged over to take a corner. The Spaniard whipped it in and Gallas was unmarked but headed over. The ball dipped perfectly for him, so he didn't need to jump. But from then on, Chelsea started to up the tempo. A corner was comfortably headed away by Gilberto, but it found Frank Lampard, 25 yards out. He sprayed the ball wide to Shaun Wright-Phillips, who skipped past Clichy before sending in a super cross, which was met by a brilliant diving, glancing header from Essien. Chelsea were back in it. As it stood, United would still win the title but you just felt Chelsea had the ability to go on and win. And they turned the game around and were dominating. A good move found Joe Cole on the edge of the box, and he fired a sublime shot into the top corner. But the celebrations were dismissed as the goal was ruled offside. And replays show the officials got it spot on. The fourth official held up 4 minutes. Then, Arsenal had a decent chance. Substitute, Alex Hleb found himself free on the left but fired his shot straight at Petr Cech. Subsitute Scott Sinclair was away on the left, but cut the ball back for Salomon Kalou. The Ivorian hit a sweet strike first time that was destined for the net. However, Jens Lehmann produced a wonderful save, to show why Arsene Wenger was desperate to keep him for another year. It was a golden opportunity for Chelsea. Then in he dying seconds, Emmanuel Eboue beat Bridge and blasted a tremendous strike onto the bar. Cech was beaten. But it wasn't the winner. And with that, the referee blew the whistle, to end a magical second half.
Match Ratings:
Lehmann: Super save that really denied Chelsea the title (7)
Eboue: Unlucky not to score and dangerous going forward (7)
Toure: Surprisingly easy game for the Ivorian (6)
Gallas: Dealt with the Chelsea attacks well but was fairly quiet (6)
Clichy: Quiet but looked an attacking threat when he was running with the ball (6)
Fabregas: Didn't realy get involved. But can't blame him. The kid must be knackered (5)
Denilson: Solid and creative in the middle until stretchered off (6)
Gilberto: An absoloute star. Kept Lampard at bay and held a young midfield together. No better than the Brazilian (8)
Diaby: The same as last week. Anonymous. You can't play him on the left (5)
Baptista: Quiet but finally showed us some physical strength when he won the penalty (6)
Adebayor: Poor performance. His touch was bad and seemed to waste the ball (5)
Hleb: For god's sake! Why does he never bloody shoot! Such a good player but so annoying (6)
Hoyte: Didn't make an impact (5)
MAN OF THE MATCH: Michael Essien
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