time to party

A fun back and forth game at Stamford Bridge in London ended wonderfully as Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1.

photo courtesy: Tom Jenkins/the Guardian

It was fast, it was fun, and it was gritty all in one. One of the main points of this game to start with was the instrumental role that newfound hero David Luiz played. I watched this game with a bunch of huge Manchester United fans and one of the main things they kept saying was how he was a "dirty" player. He probably should have been eliminated from the game after a challenge that could have warranted a second yellow. But Luiz brings energy and passion to Chelsea. He's agressive and wants the ball no matter what it will take to get it. There will undoubtedly be quite a few fouls committed by him in his career. But the tradeoff is more than worth it. In this game, not only did Luiz score the equalizing goal but his will to win rubbed off on everyone around him. Sound like someone else? A young John Terry perhaps.

Here's Luiz's perfectly timed strike:

I believe that the secret to Chelsea's domination of Man U over the last few years has to do with the fact that their confidence does not waiver no matter what happens. A beautiful Wayne Rooney first half strike sent the devils on top going into halftime. But whether it be John Terry, Frank Lampard, or the manager himself Carlo Ancelotti, somebody took hold of that locker room and kept the belief alive. It has been a strange season for the Blues but let's be honest, if they can beat United, they should win a boatload of games through the rest of the season. Only one thing can truly get a team out of a season-long funk and that is beating a team as hated and as good as Manchester United, knowing your truly earned it.

As for the table, I've been saying from the start that if Chelsea beat Man U both times this season, they give themselves a very good chance to win the title. I still hold this to be true. The table as of today looks like this:

	| Home					| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Man Utd	28	13	1	0	39	9	4	8	2	23	18	35	60
2	Arsenal	27	10	1	3	30	12	7	4	2	27	15	30	56
3	Man City	28	8	4	2	22	11	6	4	4	22	14	19	50
4	Chelsea	27	9	2	2	26	9	5	4	5	22	14	25	48
5	Tottenham	27	7	5	1	19	10	6	3	5	19	21	7	47
6	Liverpool	28	8	4	2	23	11	3	2	9	13	24	1	39
7	Bolton	28	7	5	2	25	17	2	5	7	14	21	1	37
8	Sunderland	28	6	5	3	18	14	3	5	6	15	21	-2	37
9	Newcastle	28	4	6	4	31	20	5	3	6	12	19	4	36
10	Stoke	28	7	3	4	20	15	3	1	10	12	20	-3	34
11	Everton	27	5	5	3	21	18	2	7	5	14	18	-1	33
12	Aston Villa	28	6	5	3	22	16	2	4	8	13	31	-12	33
13	Fulham	28	5	6	3	17	14	1	8	5	12	15	0	32
14	Blackburn	28	6	4	4	17	11	3	1	10	18	35	-11	32
15	Blackpool	28	4	3	6	22	24	5	2	8	20	31	-13	32
16	Birmingham	26	4	7	3	13	15	2	5	5	12	20	-10	30
17	West Brom	28	5	5	4	22	23	2	3	9	14	30	-17	29
18	Wolverhampton	28	7	2	5	21	19	1	2	11	10	27	-15	28
19	West Ham	28	4	4	6	17	21	2	6	6	16	28	-16	28
20	Wigan	28	3	6	6	16	30	2	6	5	11	19	-22	27
image courtesy bbc

Chelsea are back in the top four and 12 points behind Man U with a crucial game in hand. Let's assume for now that Chelsea win that figurative game in hand. The margin shrinks to 9 points. Chelsea beat the reds at Old Trafford? That margin shrinks to six points. If these things happen, and that will be a really hard win up north, Chelsea will need Man U to draw three games in which Chelsea win. All of this sounds simple enough. The key will be to win at the Traf, a feat that seems entirely possible in this moment of joy. But let's not get to caught up in the numbers game. For now, it's time to party.