Alex Ferguson believes that Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea on April 29 will decide the outcome of the Premiership title race after Wayne Rooney’s dazzling display inspired United to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal here at Old Trafford.
Rooney’s 54th minute goal and a close range strike from South Korea midfielder Park Ji-Sung 12 minutes from full-time kept United on the heels of leaders Chelsea, who remain seven points clear of Ferguson’s men after beating West Ham 4-1 at Stamford Bridge.
Having slashed Chelsea’s lead from 18 points to seven since the beginning of March, however, the veteran United manager is convinced his players can pull off an amazing comeback to deny Jose Mourinho’s team the title this term.
”I firmly believe that if we keep winning our games, then we have an outstanding chance. We still have to go to Stamford Bridge and win there,” Ferguson said.
”We need a collapse, but sometimes it can happen and Chelsea have to go to Bolton next week and do you really think that Bolton will lose five games in a row? I don’t think so.
”Chelsea then have to go to Blackburn and Newcastle and that will be Alan Shearer’s last game, so we have a lot of things in our favour. I feel that the league will be decided in the game at Stamford Bridge.”
Rooney, who woke to tabloid headlines Sunday suggesting he’d run up massive gambling debts, was the inspiration for United and Ferguson backed the 20-year-old England striker in the wake of the probe into his personal life.
”It was a five-star performance, but it wasn’t all about Wayne,” the veteran Scottish supremo insisted.
”He was sensational at times, but everybody else pulled their weight, they all wanted to win and that was crucial.
”The stuff about Wayne was pathetic, absolute rubbish. We know Wayne, but he is getting the same treament that George Best, Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham had. We just live in that age.”
Defeat left Arsenal trailing north London rivals Spurs by five points in the race for fourth spot and the final Champions League berth for next season.
But Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, whose team travel to a reinvigorated Portsmouth on Wednesday, remains confident his players can close the gap.
”We were jaded today, United were the stronger side physically and they deserved to win the game,” the Frenchman said. ”But our chances of finishing in the top four have diminished with this result.
”It is still in our hands mathematically, though. We are five points behind Tottenham, but we have a game in hand and they still have to play us at Highbury. They also have some tough games to play, so we have a chance. We just cannot afford to drop any more points.”
Wenger surprisingly started with top scorer Thierry Henry on the bench, but he refused to admit his team selection had contributed to Arsenal’s defeat in front of United’s biggest ever home attendance of 70 908.
”I don’t think it was a major factor in the game. We have lost games with Thierry Henry on the pitch as well and we didn’t concede the first goal just because Thierry was on the bench. United simply deserved to win.” – AFP
