In recent years the highly anticipated fixtures between the top Premier League clubs have often failed to live up to the hype. We have seen this no more so in Manchester City's games with Arsenal Man United and Chelsea this season as they have played out for lack lustre, plain boring draws.
As teams are more focussed on not losing, a cautious approach takes centre stage. The defensive 4-5-1 formations has become normality for big games, as teams make it difficult to break each other down and so goal scoring opportunities and thus excitement is limited, much to the annoyance of those following the livescore goalwire.
It was therefore refreshing to see both Manchester United and Chelsea adopt the old fashioned system of 4-4-2, which produced one of the most exciting, open games that I have seen between two of the top teams in a number of years.
As the action went from end to end for the full 90 minutes, it was Chelsea that came away with a 2-1 win despite going down to a Wayne Rooney strike on the half hour mark. Second half goals from David Luiz and a penalty from Frank Lampard secured the win for the Blues which takes them above Tottenham into 4th place. It was a livescore result that really shook up the table.
Is this the turning point of Chelsea's season and will it signal a revival of their form? And how will the defeat affect Manchester United?
Although the victory for Chelsea is a great result and will no doubt give them confidence and belief to take into their remaining fixtures, their performance to me didn't fill me with confidence that this is the end of their dip in form.
I felt the game was largely dominated by Manchester United who played as good as they have done all season, they certainly had chances to put the game to bed at 1 nil up, but lacked the cutting edge in front of goal. The performance gave me belief that they will go onto win the league this season, although it will be a difficult running especially as they are without Namanja Vidic for Sundays trip to Anfield after his red card.
It is certainly shaping up for an intriguing finish to the season, and I expect even more ups and downs in the remaining games. |
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