And The Man With The Copper Top Just Keeps On Going...

Charlie Klein

Just when we all thought it was all over, the English Premier League title race has been turned on its head by the copper top of Paul Scholes and the right foot of side-burned Welsh wonder Gareth Bale.

The day did not start with that special feeling that something miraculous was in the offing. The Manchester Derby, the first match of the day, was nominally exhibit a, b and c of anti-climax. Until around the last 15 minutes of the game, there were few chances and zero flash points.

If you had not watched the previous matches between these two teams and heard all of the hype that Carlos Tevez was getting before the game, you would wonder why commentators make such a big deal about him. Carlitos was more absent from the proceedings than Ferris Bueller in a classroom at Eastlands yesterday. When his team needed a goal, Tevez was nowhere to be found.

Shay Given and Edwin Van Der Sar were as involved in the proceedings as I was (sitting on my couch with a bottle of Newcastle) for most of the match. Van Der Sar made a good save on a Carlos Tevez free kick, but aside from that was not called upon to do very much. Given benefited from the poor finishing of Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs in the late minutes of the first half.

Following the tactical substitutions made by Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini the game began to pick up pace. City were the first to develop a gilt-edged chance. On a corner sent in by Bellamy, United keeper Van Der Sar ineptly punched the ball into the path of City right back Nedum Onouha, whose shot was stopped by Nemanja Vidic on the goal line.

If a team could not score on an ugly play like that, it just felt as though there were not going to be any goals to be had by either side. That is, until Paul Scholes got involved. The man of the match, Scholes played magnificently in the center of United's midfield, playing pass after pass in hopes of unlocking City.

Call it luck, call it the will of a champion, but Scholes' goal and its associated build-up represents United's season in a nutshell. Patrice Evra expertly tackles the ball off of Shaun Wright-Phillips and charges down the left flank. He passes it to Dimitar Berbatov, who plays Gabriel Obertan down the left side. The young Frenchman then returns the ball to Berbatov, who has the ball taken off of him by Bellamy. The Welshman's poor passing decision gave the ball right back to United as Vidic intercepted and played it on to Obertan. After a few combination passes between Obertan and Scholes, the ball was crossed into the box by the left foot of Evra and fired into the back of the net by the head of Scholes. All of a sudden, United were back in the title race.

In the same week that he signed a one year extension, Paul Scholes proved yet again even at the tender age of 35 why he remains invaluable to United. Called the greatest player of his generation by Zinedine Zidane, the Ginger Prince has held court in the Premier League during the two golden ages of Manchester United. And his goal against City reminded the world that Scholes is perhaps the greatest player the Premier League has ever seen.

Just how much the goal meant to United was revealed by the boisterous celebrations that followed it. Sir Alex Ferguson and his assistant Mike Phelan celebrated like they were back in the Nou Camp in '99. Gary Neville was so ingratiated by Scholes' goal that he felt the need to kiss the Ginger Prince on the mouth. I slid on the carpet of my dorm room and swung my scarf around. It was a great goal.

The other big match on the Premiership schedule yesterday was Chelsea versus Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. And boy did that one not disappoint. Spurs started the game with the urgency and verve of a top four team while Chelsea had the look of a spoiled child whose coveted toy had just been yanked from their hands.

Jermaine Defoe converted a penalty on 15 minutes and from thereon in it was all Tottenham. Referee Phil Dowd had denied Spurs an obvious penalty shout only a few minutes before when John Obi Mikel appeared to impede the progress of a charging Gareth Bale inside the 18. Not but a minute later is Chelsea captain John Terry whistled for handling the ball inside the box. The protests by he and his defensive partner Alex are deflected by Dowd, and Defoe smashes his penalty into the back of Petr Cech's net.

Tottenham kept their foot on the gas and pressed for a second goal. The much maligned and perhaps over-hyped Gareth Bale ghosted past an irrelevant Paulo Ferreira (boy do Chelsea miss having Ashley Cole in the starting eleven/why didn't Ancelotti play Ivanovic?), working the ball beautifully onto his right foot. And my oh my was his finish ever so clinical. He simply rocketed a shot just inside Cech's near post. It was a finish any striker would be happy to claim as his own. Did Bale "Kevorkian" Chelsea's title hopes? Only time will tell, but it clearly dented their confidence.

Tottenham on the day were simply irresistible. Superior in every third of the pitch, Harry Redknapp's men did a massive favor for Manchester United in their pursuit of a fourth consecutive Premiership title. We in the media have made the mistake of assuming that one day will turn the title in one way or the other, but surely Saturday April 17 2010 will be remembered by football fans around the world as the day that Chelsea almost won the title.

This could all be much ado about nothing. Scholes' goal and the celebrations could be but a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. But in a time of the season in which bottle means everything, the Ginger Ninja and United proved that they have got bottle in spades.

As William Shakespeare once wrote "Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." And Paul Scholes' goal on that sunny afternoon at Eastlands could have United destined for just that, greatness. And a 19th title too.