While league leaders Manchester United preserved their five-point lead over nearest pursuers Manchester City with only four matches to go, the fight is on for the other two slots in the Cham-pions League next season.
Last week, a dubious penalty on Ashley Young paved the way for United’s 4-0 win at home to troubled Aston Villa.
Manchester City, on their part, beat Norwich City 6-1 away in their last outing with Roberto Mancini claiming that his side are playing with flair and scoring goals. However, that may come a little bit too late to help them dethrone United.
Alex Ferguson admitted that he had concerns about the Premier League title when Nemanja Vidic was declared a long-time injured player before Christmas.
Yet, his team-mates in defence, including goalkeeper David De Gea, gave more than the United manager had expected after the captain’s mishap.
Meanwhile, Man. City players continue to back Carlos Tevez despite his departure without the club’s consent half-way through the season.
The Argentine scored a hat-trick at Carrow Road to confirm his reputation as a lethal striker.
The remaining fixtures for the Manchester duo read:
Manchester United (82 pts)
H – Everton (tomorrow)
A – Man. City (April 30)
H – Swansea (May 6)
A – Sunderland (May 13)
Manchester City (77 pts)
A – Wolves (tomorrow)
H – Man. United (April 30)
A – Newcastle (May 6)
H – QPR (May 13)
Behind the top two in the standings, four teams are engaged in a real tussle for Champions League next season.
On Monday night, third-placed Arsenal received a great shock following a 1-2 upset at home to Wigan. The Gunners are still in pole position with 64 points, five points above north London rivals Tottenham, who have a game in hand, and Newcastle.
This afternoon Arsenal host sixth-placed Chelsea (57 points) and a three-pointer will put Arsene Wenger’s men back on track.
Chelsea, the FA Cup finalists, beat Barcelona 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The Londoners handled the game expertly to keep their goal intact and preserve the one-goal lead handed to them by Didier Drogba just before half-time.
Tottenham, so unlucky to concede a ‘phantom goal’ against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday, will play QPR this evening at Loftus Road.
Spurs have had a roller-coaster season with high hopes of crowning it with a cup final.
Chelsea, however, had other ideas as Emmanuel Adebayor accused referee Martin Atkinson of ruining Tottenham’s dreams, adding that the lack of goal-line technology is ‘killing the game’.
Can Newcastle crown their superb season with a place in the Champions League?
The Magpies can easily be dubbed as the revelation team this season. Nobody had given them a chance to mingle with the elite after losing some of their best players in pre-season.
Today, Newcastle take on Stoke at St James’ Park.
Remaining fixtures after this weekend’s programme:
Arsenal (64 pts)
A – Stoke (April 28)
H – Norwich (May 5)
A – West Brom (May 13)
Tottenham (59 pts)
H – Blackburn (April 29)
A – Bolton (May 2)
A – Aston Villa (May 6)
H – Fulham (May 13)
Newcastle (59 pts)
A – Wigan (April 28)
A – Chelsea (May 2)
H – Man. City (May 6)
A – Everton (May 13)
Chelsea (57 pts)
H – QPR (April 29)
H – Newcastle (May 2)
A – Liverpool (May 8)
H – Blackburn (May 13)
Fixtures and forecast
Premier League
Arsenal-Chelsea 13:45 X
Aston Villa-Sunderland 1
Blackburn-Norwich 1
Bolton-Swansea X
Fulham-WiganX
Newcastle-Stoke 1
QPR-Tottenham 18:30 2
Tomorrow:
Liverpool-West Brom 17:00 1
Man. United-Everton 13:30 1
Wolves-Man. City 17:00 2
Standings: Man. Utd 82; Man. City 77; Arsenal 64; Tottenham, New-castle 59; Chelsea 57; Everton 47; Liverpool 46; Sunderland, Fulham, Norwich 43; Swansea, WBA, Stoke 42; Aston Villa 35; Wigan 34; QPR 31; Bolton 29; Blackburn 28; Wolves 23.
The Championship
Blackpool-Burnley 1
Brighton-Birmingham X
Bristol City-Barnsley 1
Cardiff-Leeds 13:30 1
Coventry-Doncaster 1
Hull-N. Forest 1
Ipswich-Millwall 1
M’boro-Southampton 18:20 2
Peterborough-Watford 1
Portsmouth-Derby X
Reading-Crystal Palace 1
Monday:
Leicester-West Ham 20.45 X
League One
Bournemouth-Colchester 1
Charlton-Wycombe 1
Chesterfield-Rochdale 1
Exeter-Walsall X
Huddersfield-Scunthorpe 1
Leyton Orient-Yeovil X
MK Dons-Sheffield Utd X
Notts County-Bury 13:30 1
Oldham-Preston X
Sheffield Wed.-Carlisle 1
Stevenage-Brentford 1
Tranmere-Hartlepool 1
League Two
Accrington-Shrewsbury 2
AFC Wimbledon-Torquay 2
Bradford-Macclesfield 1
Burton-Aldershot X
Crewe-Cheltenham 1
Dagenham-Crawley 2
Gillingham-Swindon 1
Hereford-Northampton 1
Plymouth-Oxford X
Port Vale-Bristol Rovers 1
Rotherham-Morecambe 1
Hot Four
Coventry City
Reading
Sheffield Wednesday
Rotherham United