Manchester United’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title suffered a major blow as the champions were held to a 0-0 draw by Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side would have moved one point ahead of Chelsea with a win at Ewood Park, but with England forward Wayne Rooney sidelined through injury, they were unable to prise open Blackburn’s stubborn defense.
The result left second-placed United a point behind leaders Chelsea and the gap will increase to four points if the Blues win their game in hand at home to Bolton Wanderers today.
After bowing out of the Champions League against Bayern Munich in midweek, this was another significant setback for United, whose best chances were wasted by Antonio Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov.
“The title is slipping away when you don’t get a result in a game like this,” Ferguson said. “We are now a point behind Chelsea and they have a game in hand, which would take it to four points. It’s a big gap.”
Elsewhere, Manchester City moved a step closer to qualifying for the Champions League with a 5-1 demolition of Birmingham City at Eastlands.
Roberto Mancini’s fourth-placed side are now four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, although the north Londoners have a game in hand against title contenders Arsenal tomorrow.
City took the lead in the 38th minute when Carlos Tevez struck from the penalty spot after Scott Dann fouled Emmanuel Adebayor. It was Tevez’s 19th goal in his last 18 league games and City increased their lead two minutes later when Nedum Onuoha headed in Adam Johnson’s cross.
Birmingham reduced the deficit through Cameron Jerome’s 42nd-minute header, but Adebayor put City back in control with a tap-in that completed a crazy spell of four goals in five minutes.
Onuoha struck again with a solo effort in the 74th minute, before Adebayor fired home in the 88th minute to confirm a third successive victory for Roberto Mancini’s side.
“It’s important we continue to improve in the next five games because we have five difficult matches,” Mancini said.
City’s win was bad news for Liverpool, who look certain to miss out on a top-four finish after being held to a 0-0 draw by Fulham.
Rafael Benitez’s side were without star striker Fernando Torres because of a knee injury and his absence was crucial as the Reds failed to break down their fellow Europa League semi-finalists. Liverpool are six points behind City and have played a game more.
“I’m a little bit disappointed. The fourth position is a little bit far away,” Benitez said. “The difference is maybe too much now.”
In the early match, Wolves edged closer to Premier League survival after grinding out a dour 0-0 draw against Stoke at Molineux.
English Premier League
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Chelsea | 33 | 54 | 74 |
2 | Manchester United | 34 | 50 | 73 |
3 | Arsenal | 33 | 41 | 71 |
4 | Manchester City | 33 | 28 | 62 |
5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 32 | 26 | 58 |
6 | Liverpool | 34 | 21 | 56 |
7 | Aston Villa | 32 | 12 | 54 |
8 | Everton | 33 | 8 | 50 |
9 | Birmingham City | 34 | -8 | 46 |
10 | Stoke City | 33 | -3 | 43 |
11 | Blackburn Rovers | 34 | -15 | 43 |
12 | Fulham | 33 | -2 | 42 |
13 | Sunderland | 34 | -8 | 38 |
14 | Wolverhampton | 34 | -23 | 33 |
15 | Bolton Wanderers | 33 | -25 | 32 |
16 | West Ham United | 34 | -16 | 31 |
17 | Wigan Athletic | 33 | -34 | 31 |
18 | Burnley | 34 | -36 | 27 |
19 | Hull City | 33 | -38 | 27 |
20 | Portsmouth | 33 | -32 | 14 |
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