The day the race turned into a procession

THANK heavens for little boys.

I refer, of course, to Droggers. Five minutes in at Stamford Bridge yesterday and any hopes neutrals might have nurtured for a nail-biting denouement to the Premier League began to evaporate.

That was when, in a worrying sign of things to come for the visitors, Wigan failed to clear their lines after a set-piece and, despite a helping chest from an offside Florent Malouda, the flag stayed down as Nicolas Anelka pounced to put Chelsea one goal closer to the title.