Manchester United have lift-off as Chelsea falter in Premier League title race

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side strengthen their grip with win over Liverpool as rivals are pegged back by Blackburn
Manchester United strengthened their grip at the top of the Barclays Premier League yesterday when Chelsea lost vital ground in the title race.

Chelsea drew 1-1 away to Blackburn Rovers to drop to third place, four points adrift of United, who came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford earlier in the day.

Didier Drogba put Chelsea in front, but El-Hadji Diouf equalised for Blackburn with 20 minutes remaining to compound a miserable week for Carlo Ancelotti’s team after their elimination from the Champions League by Inter Milan.

Ancelotti believes that Chelsea must win their game in hand against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Wednesday if they are serious about denying United an unprecedented fourth successive league title. Arsenal are two points behind the champions in second.

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“It will be more difficult now to win the title, but it’s not impossible,” the Chelsea manager said. “We have a good chance, but it will be more difficult. We can’t afford to lose our confidence and composure. They [United] are top of the list. We have to run more and do better. We have to leave this moment as soon as possible. It is important to win on Wednesday.”

Rafael Benítez accused Antonio Valencia of diving to win the penalty that prompted United’s fightback and “changed everything”, according to the Liverpool manager. Liverpool were leading 1-0 through a Fernando Torres goal when Javier Mascherano pulled down Valencia in the twelfth minute.

Wayne Rooney’s penalty was saved by Pepe Reina only for the England striker to score his 33rd goal of the season from the rebound, before Park Ji Sung won the game on the hour with a diving header. Torres missed a glaring opportunity to equalise in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time and Rooney was spotted limping after the game, with United hopeful he has not aggravated a niggling knee problem.

Asked if he felt Valencia had dived, Benítez said: “Yes, I think so. It’s not clear, there is maybe a contact, but the way he fell was strange. I’ve seen three replays and the last one was very suspicious. One situation changed everything. I think he [Howard Webb] is a very good referee.”

The initial contact from Mascherano on Valencia appeared to take place outside the area, but Sir Alex Ferguson believed it was a certain penalty and said the Liverpool midfield player should have been sent off. “I thought for the penalty kick it was a red card,” the United manager said. “There was no way [Jamie] Carragher could have got across to stop Valencia from shooting.”

Benítez responded by implying that Ferguson’s outburst was an example of his apparent attempts to influence referees. The pair were seen exchanging angry words after Rooney’s goal. “He has an opinion about everything,” Benítez said.

source timesonline.co.uk