Since the inception of the Premier League back in 1992,
races to the finish line have been in short supply. On only three occasions has
the title been decided on the final day of the season however if Manchester
United and Chelsea can hold their respective nerves the destination of this
years crown will not be know until May 11th.
With United beating Arsenal at Old Trafford in yet another
classic, they hold all the aces as they strive for Premiership title number ten
but to right off the Blues would be an act of folly as April 26th
and a date a Stamford Bridge looms.
With four and five matches left for Sir Alex Ferguson and
Avram Grant respectively lets take a look back at the five closest finishes in
Premiership history and see if there are any lessons to be learned.
02/03: Champions Manchester United 5 points ahead of Arsenal
United finished the season in style, romping home against
Blackburn, Spurs, Charlton and Everton. The title was effectively won the game
before the Blackburn encounter though against…you guessed it, Arsenal. A
thriller at Highbury saw Thierry Henry bag a brace, Sol Campbell sent off and
the ageless, Ryan Giggs scoring the decisive equalizer.
98/99: Champions Manchester United 1 point ahead of Arsenal
The year of the treble and United simply wouldn’t be denied.
A draw against big time rivals, Liverpool, made things scary as Arsenal beat
Derby and then Spurs however when the Gunners choked against Leeds, United were
ready to pounce – and yet if Spurs had not been beaten at Old Trafford thanks
to a David Beckham special, Arsenal would’ve gone back-to-back.
97/98: Champions Arsenal 1 point ahead of Manchester United
With only a one-point gap the race to the title in 97/98
wasn’t as close as it sounds. In reality Arsenal won the title way back of
March 14th beating United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Consecutive wins
against Derby and Everton were offset by losses to Liverpool and Aston Villa.
United did push Arsene Wenger hard winning five of their last seven but they
couldn’t recover.
95/96: Champions Manchester United 4 points ahead of
Newcastle
This was the year of Kevin Keegan’s infamous ‘I’d luv it’
meltdown. Newcastle were the favorites in February/March but United ground ‘em
down – and once Ferguson’s front runners got their noses in the lead Leeds,
Forest, Middlesbrough and much to Fergie’s delight, Liverpool, were nothing but
window dressing for Premiership title number three.
94/95: Champions Blackburn 1 point ahead of Manchester
United
The best Premiership race ever as last day nerves got the
best of both Blackburn and United. A Kenny Dalglish inspired Rovers knew a win
at Anfield and the crown would be theirs but they completely bottled it and
lost 2-1 leaving the door wide open for the Red Devils who were at Upton Park.
With news filtering through that Blackburn were losing on Merseyside, United,
threw everything at West Ham but in a match that will go down in lore, they
couldn’t find a winner as Andy Cole missed a last minute sitter that would’ve
won the game and sent the title to the Theater of Dreams.
And so to the run-in for the 07/08 campaign…
United face Blackburn, a team that has had their number at
Ewood Park, Chelsea at the Bridge, West Ham who beat them at Upton Park earlier
this season and the punching bag of Wigan
Chelsea meets Wigan tomorrow, Everton on Thursday and with
two wins, we’ll be tied with United at the top of the table setting up that
juicy showdown on the 26th April. They finish with Newcastle and
Bolton.
As many of you have commented, participating in the
prediction game is a mugs business however I backed United at the beginning of
the season and I’m not going to get of them now. If the results go the way I
half expect them too, Sir Alex Ferguson will claim Premiership title number ten
by the slimmest of margins – goal difference – now that’s a race!
