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It's safe to say that hyperbole and armchair psychologists aren't solely the domain of American sportscasters.Seemingly seconds after Chelsea captain John Terry headed home the eventual game-winner late in the second half Sunday vs. Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, the talking heads were speculating that the goal made up for his famous penalty kick miss in the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow.
Let's say, agree to disagree, though the 1-0 victory certainly was a strong statement for Chelsea, as it tries to end Manchester United's three-year stranglehold on the Premier League.
With the win, Chelsea moved five points clear of Manchester United with 30 points. The Red Devils are now tied for second with Arsenal, though the Gunners still have a game in hand.
All things being equal, Sunday's match was relatively low on incident between two of the marquee teams in the world.
In fact, until about the 70th-odd minute the game was rather forgettable. Things did get interesting when Manchester United defender Jonny Evans jumped in the air and ninja-kicked Didier Drogba in the gut, causing the big Ivorian to convulse on the ground for a few seconds. Bizarrely, Drogba ended up getting a yellow card.
On almost the next possession, Chlsea won a freekick on a challenge by Darren Fletcher, which set up Terry's game-winner. United tried to claim that Drogba had fouled Wes Brown in the box, but the claims fell on deaf ears.
From there Chelsea hung on, as United didn't mount much of a threat.
The biggest thing to take away from this match is it looks more likely that if there's a duel for the title, the participants will be Chelsea and Arsenal, which demolished Wolves 4-1 on Saturday. Manchester United, despite its lofty pedigree, seems to be lacking an edge that's helped drive it to three-straight titles. (The fact Cristiano Ronaldo is now wearing white in Madrid, doesn't help matters either.)
Arsenal hosts Chelsea at the Emirates on Nov. 29.
