82 minutes.
Chelsea's title deciding match.
Scoreline on 1 - 1.
Battle of 2 biggest soccer powerhouse.
A doubtful 50 / 50 handball

How could Mike Riley make such a call? How sure was he it was a certified handball? half a mind? This isn't a Derby vs Sunderland sunken fight. Such a big stage, I'm sure experience would have told him.

Yes yes, Chelsea fans can scream & shout penalty all they want, while Man Utd fans [ like myself ] can curse & do voodoo on the ref. But all things aside, lets do a partial analysis.

As mentioned above, this is probably the biggest title deciding game [ for Chelsea ] in 5 years to come. For refs & linesmen, every single call they make adversely affects the game one way or another. Free kicks, bookings, advantage play-ons, offsides and MOST importantly, penalties.

Therefore, refs have to be decisive, packed with a quick mind to pinpoint faults on the spot without a debate. Yet Mike Riley CONTEMPLATED on the handball, ON 82 mins, with SO much on stake & allowed game on before raising the flag for a penalty.

How sure was he the handball was certain? That's the query we will never find out.


But all things aside, it was a well played game by both sides & I salute Mikael Silvestre. 6 months off the pitch & he delivered his goods so well in such a big game. Drogba & Essien would have ran so much more havoc if he wasn't present.

Chelsea took their chance in the first half to terrorize an unsettled Man Utd by making lots of runs & attempts on goal. Man Utd manage to fight back in the 2nd half and did take their chances this time round. The injury time clearances by A.Cole & Shev was indeed another decisive moment for the Blues.

Yet after looking @ Man Utd's performance & depth shown in this game, with Tevez & Ron left out, I'm still confident they can secure the title this time round.