Most Exciting Weekend of the Year

Wow!

Have you caught your breath yet? If there was one round of games to watch this season, this was it. I remember the last weekend of the 2007 calendar year being pretty good, but I think what we saw yesterday and today took the cake.

The title race is alive and kicking. The relegation fight will be contested until the weekend of the season. Everton is still in 5th place, the last automatic UEFA Cup spot, but the Toffees can be tracked down in the last two games of the year. Think about it; there was meaningful excitement at the top, middle, and bottom of the league table all in one weekend.

Consider:

• Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United, sealed by an 86th-minute PK from Michael Ballack, propelled the Blues into a tie atop the league table with the Red Devils. Both teams have 81 points with two league games still to play, although Man U is ahead on goal differential.

• Dimitar Berbatov put a header just inches above the crossbar in 2nd half injury time, and Tottenham settled for a 1-1 draw with Bolton. A goal in that situation wouldn’t have meant anything for Spurs, but it would’ve resulted in no points for Gary Megson’s relegation-threatened team, something they couldn’t have afforded at this point in the season.

• Newcastle came from 2-0 down at Upton Park by scoring two goals in three minutes late in the first half to pick up a 2-2 draw against West Ham. The point doesn’t mean anything in the long run for either team, but Kevin Keegan’s side is showing the fight that they didn’t have earlier in the year.

• Fulham also came from 2-0 down, but they came ALL the way back and scored three goals in the last 20 minutes of the game to beat Manchester City 3-2 at their ground. The road victory was only the Cottagers’ second of the year, and the three points that came with it are a potential Premiership lifeline. City dominated the first hour of the game, but Diomansy Kamara’s brace, capped off by a 92nd minute near-post roofer, helped Fulham pull off the shocking upset. The loss also could leave Sven in big trouble as City’s manager…

• Sunderland’s second North East Derby in two weeks ended in late jubilation, as an Emanuel Pogatetz own goal gave the Black Cats their 9th home win of the season. This match was a wild one, with Middlesbrough’s Tuncay Sanli opening the scoring in the 4th minute, followed by Danny Higginbotham’s equalizer two minutes later and Michael Chopra’s goal right before halftime. Afonso Alves leveled for Boro in the 73rd minute with a weak dribbler, and then Pogatetz’s unfortunate mistake in injury time, claimed by Sunderland’s Daryl Murphy, sent the crowd at the Stadium of Light into raptures.

• Liverpool’s second-stringers came from 2-0 down at St. Andrew’s to pick up a point, one that clinched 4th place and a berth in the Champions League next season for the Reds when Everton drew with Aston Villa a day later (today, more on that in a bit). Peter Crouch and Yossi Benayoun scored in the span of 13 minutes for Rafa’s side, and Birmingham missed out on a badly-needed victory. The Blues will travel to Craven Cottage next weekend for a relegation showdown against Fulham, with the loser almost certainly destined for the Championship.

• Three goals, two from Aston Villa and one from Everton, were scored in the last 10 minutes of today’s game at Goodison Park, but the Toffees had already scored a fluky goal earlier in the match. It ended 2-2, obviously, as John Carew’s header gave Villa a share of the spoils just when it looked like Everton was going to escape with the three points and a return trip to the UEFA Cup next year. They still may, but Villa now have a chance to catch them, as the two teams are three points apart with two games left to play.

It was a great weekend of soccer in the Premiership, and a great example of why it is the most exciting domestic league in the world.

Chelsea Victory Won't Matter

First of all, no matter what you think about Alan Wiley and his refereeing yesterday, you have to give credit to Chelsea for their 2-1 triumph over Manchester United. The Blues' victory puts them level on points with the defending champions with two league games to go, although Sir Alex Ferguson's team is on top of the table thanks to a far-superior goal differential.

Here's the bottom line. Manchester United's last two games are relatively straightforward -- home to West Ham, and @ Wigan. Wins in both of those matches and the Premiership trophy will remain in Manchester for the second year in a row, even if Chelsea wins both of their fixtures as well.

West Ham has been the Red Devils' bogey team over the past couple seasons. They've beaten United three straight times over that period. With that said, the Hammers had something to play for on each of those occasions; most notably, their Premiership lives when they won at Old Trafford on the last weekend of the 2006-2007 season.

This year, though, Alan Curbishley and his boys seemed to have packed it in for the season back in January. They've been in 10th place for ages and have hovered around the mid-table area all season long. Their performances in recent weeks have been flat, to say the least, and I don't think they have any chance to go to Old Trafford again and take any points off a hungry Manchester United team.

As I said in a recent post, I think Steve Bruce has done a terrific job since taking over at Wigan. He's under-appreciated by the mainstream media and fans of the Premiership, especially those outside of the North West, and has led Wigan to safety this year. His team is unbeaten in their last seven league games at home and recently picked up a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Aside from Arsenal, a match that ended 0-0, Wigan's other six opponents in this unbeaten streak haven't exactly been top quality: West Ham, Derby, Bolton, Birmingham, Tottenham, and Reading. Four clubs at or near the bottom of the table and two that haven't even played a seriously competitive game since the middle of January. There's something to be said for not losing in seven straight home games and I understand that, but with all due respect to those seven teams, none of them are Manchester United, and certainly none of them are Manchester United possibly looking to clinch the title.

Look, United's last two games won't be easy, but they're going to find a way to win them both. Chelsea will beat Bolton at home on May 11, the last day of the season, but it won't matter if they don't go to Newcastle and win next Monday. Hmm, a Monday night home game for the Tynesiders, the "Kevilution" with the team playing much, much better, a Champions League semifinal second leg this Wednesday against Liverpool, and I smell a draw at St. James' Park.

Again, all United has to do is win their final two games. I think they're going to do just that, with the match at Wigan presenting more of a difficulty. It was a great win for Chelsea yesterday and they'll be full of confidence and momentum, but I just don't think that it will mean much in the end.