Manchester United back in the running
A night to forget for Lampard as top-four contenders ship more points
Liverpool’s march to the Premier League title is nothing short of breathtaking, given their sheer dominance over all comers this season, taking them to a massive 25-point lead over Manchester City in second place.
What is just as remarkable is the failure of each of the other Champions League hopefuls to nail down one of the top spots as their traditional rivals flounder.
By the end of 2019, Leicester and Chelsea looked like solid bets to close out the top four as Tottenham were shipping points, Manchester United lacked guidance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Arsenal were all over the place.
Fast forward to mid-February and only Leicester have sustained any sort of a charge — and that is including only one win in their last five games.
Chelsea are winless in four following their 2-0 defeat to United at Stamford Bridge on Monday night and are now only one point ahead of Spurs in fourth, two ahead of surprise package Sheffield United and a head-scratching three ahead of United.
Solskjaer’s side have been so woeful at times this season, it is bewildering to think they could be in the top four, come May. On Monday night, Frank Lampard said it was ‘soul-destroying’ after a series of VAR decisions went against Chelsea against a United side that were again far from their best.
Anthony Martial and
Harry Maguire got the goals at Stamford Bridge, but the visitors were lucky skipper Maguire was not shown red for a boot to a very sensitive area of Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi in the first half.
United side claimed their first league double over Chelsea since 1987-88 but, despite the refereeing errors, Lampard’s men were second best most of the night and have gifted their rivals three points that may come back to haunt them at the end of the season.
United were far from pretty, but these three points and a few more fortunate or gritty wins (depending on which side of the fence you are on) like the one in London will be most welcome by Solskjaer, who was looking like a very worried man only a few weeks ago over his job security at Old Trafford.