Blues breathe life into title race

CHELSEA might have come from behind, restored pride, put one over on the top dogs and regained a place in the fab four but the real winners of last night’s heavyweight clash were Arsenal.

After the devastating way in which they lost the League Cup final on Sunday, the north Londoners will have been cheered by a result which still leaves them four points behind leaders Manchester United but now with a game in hand. Of course, in a season in which all contenders have struggled to take advantage, that could turn out to be a somewhat academic bonus but at least the table gives Gooners reason to start looking on the bright side again.

Chelsea too will be heartened by making headlines on the pitch rather than off it but, much as their stirring second-half performance rocked both United and the Bridge, it won’t prove enough to close the 12-point gap which stands between them and the retention of their title.

First and foremost, defending champions have to defend, which is precisely what Chelsea failed to do when affording Wayne Rooney far too much space in which to sight and measure United’s goal.

The subplot going into the game had been all about misfiring shooting stars: Rooney, Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and, er, Ashley Cole.

His nailed-on goal of the season against Man City notwithstanding, Rooney has been more nominee than Oscar-winner this term, although even when not firing on all cylinders his contribution could never be described as negligible. Last night’s goal in an otherwise patchy display simply reinforced the point.

Drogba began on the bench again but was a real thorn in United’s side when he came on and helped Chelsea complete their comeback. For his part, Torres managed to keep another clean sheet, though I fail to see why there should be reservations about pairing a predator like him and a powerhouse like Drogba from the off.

As it was, there was a sense in which Chelsea part stumbled into this victory, requiring both the shock of going a goal behind and the gradual running down of Paul Scholes’ batteries, before they were able to take charge of possession, turn the tide and develop a winning momentum.

The indefatigable Michael Essien might have been man of the match but it was only when David Luiz showed the way to the marquee strikers with a technically superb finish that Chelsea’s anxious, panicky play gave way to a show of the kind of collective spirit and resilience which used to characterise the Blues at their best under Mourinho.

As to the meaning of it all, well, United’s putative invincibility might have been dented a second time but, in so far as anything is predictable in this most unpredictable of Premier League seasons, they still look favourites to overcome their own deficiencies by best exploiting the deficiencies of the rest.

Doubtless we will now be informed that this win “lifts the pressure” off Carlo Ancelotti but Roman Abramovich will hardly settle for the odd glory night like this. For the Italian to keep his job into next season, Chelsea will have to win the Champions League, and to have even a sniff of doing that, they will first have to hope that Arsenal can return last night’s favour in Barcelona next Tuesday.

Happy dreams Chelsea — before reality bites again.