ALEX FERGUSON may not quite have waved a white flag and surrendered to Chelsea last night but the Manchester United manager did acknowledge that the Premier League title is sliding from his team’s grasp.
United’s disappointing 0-0 draw at Ewood Park yesterday handed the initiative to Carlo Ancelotti’s side and, four days after the frustration of a Champions League exit to Bayern Munich, Ferguson could not disguise his disappointment.
“The title is slipping away when you don’t get a result in a game like today,” said the United manager, who is now dependent on his rivals faltering. “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.
“I think it has slipped away from us today. It’s going to be difficult to win this league but we have a lifeline if Chelsea blow it.”
Lacking the injured Wayne Rooney, United struggled in the face of some obdurate Blackburn defending with Rooney’s replacement, the deep-lying Dimitar Berbatov, cutting an increasingly frustrated figure. “We created plenty of chances and had enough opportunities to take them,” said Ferguson, whose gamble in selecting Federico Macheda in attack failed.
“The pitch wasn’t great but we should have done better in this game. It’s a blow, there is no doubt about that. This is a fantastic result for Chelsea.”
Chelsea play Bolton tomorrow night, a game in which the United manager expects his rivals to triumph. “They (Chelsea) will be fancied to win, of course; to my mind they have an easy game,” said Ferguson who, having used all his substitutes, was forced to leave the injured Rio Ferdinand to play out the last 10 minutes as a virtual passenger. The England captain picked up a groin strain on a day when Ryan Giggs collected a hamstring injury and John O’Shea also received a knock.
Ferguson was hopeful they would recover in time for Saturday’s Manchester derby.
“It’s a game that takes away the business of chasing the league. It is a different kind of game. It will be entertaining in terms of the pride of the supporters.”
Safe from relegation worries but out of European contention, Allardyce’s team were playing for pride yesterday.
“We’ve left Manchester United in a difficult position, I think we’ve done a good bit of damage to United’s title aspirations,” the Blackburn manager said. “The position at the top of the table has changed 20 times this season but Sir Alex knows he’s got to win every game and hope Chelsea slip up. I wouldn’t say it’s all over but it’s going to be difficult. Everyone thought Chelsea were out of it but they’ve fought back.”
