Chelsea just can’t help winning at the moment and after a weekend in which none of the other top four teams played, Jose Mourinho’s men marched to a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
It wasn’t a vintage performance, with Tottenham pretty much
coughing up all four goals but the weight of the result just lends credence to
the feeling that Chelsea
has the look of champions.
Manchester
City now has three games
in hand but Manuel Pellegrini must recognise he cannot afford a single slip-up
to overtake the Blues, and only on goal difference.
And a special mention should go to Samuel Eto’o for his ‘old
man’ celebration, in reference to Mourinho’s jibe about his age.
“It was fantastic. We knew it, because he was preparing
something,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
“I think he’s amazing. The way he copes with the situation
in the last couple of weeks, I think he’s fantastic. And today I told him
before the game: ‘You are going to score for sure.’
“I think now he’s 33.”
MOYES ENJOYS
Usually, at this time of the season, Manchester United
beating a relegation-threatened West Brom 3-0
would just be a pit stop on the way to another title. But this season, it’s
more of a sense of a relief.
The reigning champions are still nine points of fourth place
but with five points between them and Tottenham in fifth, and a game in hand, a
Europa League spot remains a distinct possibility.
United strolled in this one, something that David Moyes has
rarely seen during his tenure but was happy to point out afterwards.
“It was more like it. We were more creative and played
well,” he said. “It’s never the easiest of places to come and we had lost to
them earlier in the season so it was good to get a good result.
“We earned the right to be in front. When we did we sort of
controlled chunks of the game. They were a threat and we were always going to
have to defend.”
On a side note, Danny Wellbeck has now scored as many
Premier League goals in his career as Liverpool’s
Daniel Sturridge has in one season.
BAD
CAULKER CORKER
Still stuck in the bottom three and having played more games
than the surrounding teams, Cardiff’s
future is bleak — but defender Steven Caulker did his bit for the cause, with
two goals in the resounding defeat of Fulham.
Cardiff next four games are
Everton, Liverpool, then West Brom and Crystal Palace,
so it’s fair to say the Bluesbirds’ Premier League tenancy could be decided
very soon — but Caulker himself is staying optimistic.
“It was a vital win,” he told Sky Sports. “We were
determined to make up for recent disappointments. We have a lot of spirit and
you saw how we responded after Fulham equalised.
“If we carry that on in the next games, I am sure we can
stay up.”
But then again, Fulham manager Felix Magath is still sating
the same thing: “Nine games [left this season] is a lot of points, but for sure
we have to win our home games like Cardiff
did today. It is still possible.”
SHAKY PALACE
Tony Pulis’s mid-season revival is stuttering. After taking
10 points from a possible 18, Crystal Palace gave up the only goal of the game in the 1-0
defeat to Southampton, a result that keeps the
Eagles floating perilously above that terrible dotted line.
Stylish Southampton easily coped with Palace’s more direct
style and it was an individual error from Jason Puncheon that gifted the goal
to Saints striker Jay Rodriguez — and Pulis admitted how important these type
of games are to his side’s hopes.
“Every game that we play at home, we have to try and get
points from,” he told Sky Sports.
“We’re disappointed to not get a point out of the game at
least today, but we have to move on. We have got 10 cup finals now, 10 very,
very tough games and they’re all cup finals for us.”
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