At least the Premier League championship will not fall into Arsenal's lap, not quite. Manchester United's victory at Selhurst Park last night ensured that Highbury would not be celebrating before Sunday at the earliest. The result also sent Crystal Palace down.
Goals from Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt during a first half which saw Palace overrun by the speed of United's passing and movement all but settled the contest. Andy Cole's third, a tap-in late on after Kevin Miller blocked a Scholes shot, was unnecessary. Now Arsenal will be champions if they win their home matches against Derby County tomorrow and Everton four days later.
Last night found both sides clutching at straws, with a draw of no use to either. Anything but a victory for United would leave Arsenal on the championship threshold while Crystal Palace knew that failure to win would see them relegated for the third time in six years.
Any home optimism was short-lived. No sooner had United found their rhythm than they took the lead in the sixth minute. Following Peter Schmeichel's long clearance Teddy Sheringham and Cole split the defence with a couple of brisk, intuitive passes, leaving Scholes to beat Miller.
Crystal Palace's response was to redouble their attacking efforts and hang the consequences. Marcus Bent's pace was testing Phil Neville, playing at right-back instead of his unfit brother Gary, and in the 17th minute Neil Shipperley drove the ball wide after Sasa Curcic, running at a retreating defence, had put him through.
In the meantime an astutely angled pass from David Beckham on the right had found Ryan Giggs running free into the penalty area from the left. If the Welshman had not slipped in the act of shooting United would almost certainly have increased their lead then.
Not that they had to wait long. After 21 minutes Cole's pass was inadvertently touched on to Butt by Marc Edworthy and the United midfielder drove a low shot beyond the reach of Miller. With Butt and Scholes doing much as they liked in midfield, and Beckham and Giggs enjoying the freedom of the wings, the scoring was unlikely to end there.
Beckham emphasised the point just before the half-hour with a shot that Miller did well to push wide. Soon after this Scholes sent in Giggs, who missed the target when he should have scored.
All that stopped United at least doubling their lead by half-time was their own profligacy. Against that Shipperley, Michele Padovano and Attilio Lombardo all wasted chances for Palace with wayward shooting.
Important though the game was, the evening had an almost festive air, with neither team over-concerned about tight marking at the back. The difference was that United knew they could score almost at their leisure.
Nevertheless Palace did enjoy a spell of attacking pressure early in the second half which had United clearing their lines rather more urgently than hitherto. Palace's problem throughout was that the moment United regained possession they were completely exposed.
The truth was that, bravely though Palace attacked, taking on Manchester United with a thin defence and non-tackling midfield was akin to going to sea in a sieve. Last night they appeared set on going down with all hands while providing a firework display at the same time.
Certainly they should have scored in the 68th minute when Schmeichel failed to hold the shot from Dean Gordon that followed Lombardo's tapped indirect freekick. Shipperley was quick to pounce on the loose ball but lifted his shot over the bar.
Afterwards, Alex Ferguson insisted that only a total collapse by Arsenal could give Manchester United any chance of winning the title.
Arsenal still have two games and one point in hand on United, and Ferguson insisted: "We just have to hope there is a complete collapse from Arsenal. But we won our game tonight and should set our stall out to make sure we win our remaining matches and keep a bit of pressure on them and do our best."
"The way they have performed, you have to say they should win it in the next two matches. A team that has won so many games in a row, you have to hold your hands up and say that is excellent - it is championship form."
Crystal Palace: Miller, Edworthy, Gordon, Curcic, Lombardo (Hreidarsson 87), Shipperley, Padovano (Dyer 75), Brolin (Fullarton 68), Bent, Smith, Ismael. Subs Not Used: Warhurst, Nash. Booked: Ismael.
Manchester Utd: Schmeichel, Irwin (Clegg 76), May, Pallister, Beckham, Butt, Cole, Sheringham, Giggs, Neville, Scholes. Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Solskjaer, Berg, Thornley. Goals: Scholes 5, Butt 21, Cole 84.
Referee: P Jones (Loughborough).
