United Wobble

The manager of Manchester United is perfectly entitled to be aggrieved at a system which is heavily weighted in favour of his main rivals for the Premiership title. A system which obliges Tottenham Hotspur to travel to Stamford Bridge for a vital fixture against the Champions less than 48 hours after a demanding European game in Seville. And he is also entitled to consider that Chelsea’s task was made even simpler by Martin Jol’s decision to leave out Berbatov, Lennon and Keane – any of whom could have won the game for Spurs.

In the end this drab and uninspiring encounter was decided by failure - Mido’s failure to beat Cech with a simple header from six yards, and the failure of Paul Robinson, allegedly England’s finest goalkeeper, to keep out a 30 yard shot from Ricardo Carvalho.

And just hours later, United went down 2-1 at Fratton Park to a dogged Portsmouth side whose victory was assured by a mistake in the 29th minute by Edwin Van der Sar and a pantomime own goal two minutes from time by Rio Ferdinand.

How sad it would be if Manchester United, who together with Arsenal have provided the most exciting and stimulating entertainment seen in the Premiership this season, allow the title to slip from their grasp in favour of Chelsea, who by comparison have been little more than the football equivalent of Mogadon.