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After several weeks of missed chances, Celtic can finally call themselves Scottish Champions after a 2-1 win at Kilmarnock on Sunday. Second-placed Rangers had beaten Hearts 2-1 on Saturday, meaning that Celtic had to win to clinch the title, and they did … but only just; it took a free-kick in added time from Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura to send Celtic fans wild with joy. They might have preferred the decisive points to come in a home game, with the team wearing the famous green and white hooped shirts instead of the green and black stripes of their away kit, but they won’t be complaining too much.
Coach Gordon Strachan was, of course, delighted … but he said that his thoughts were mainly with a player who returned to the team for the first time in three years due to injury: defender John Kennedy. Strachan said: “I said to him, ‘in all your dreams, I bet you never imagined this.’” That’s for certain.
South of the border it’s as you were, that is, three points still separate the top two … but Chelsea will be kicking themselves for missing a golden opportunity to cut the gap between them and Manchester United, who surprisingly drew 1-1 at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday. The Blues could have gone to within one point of their rivals, but they could do no more than draw 0-0 with Newcastle in front of 52,000 at St. James’ Park on Sunday.
Chelsea looked tired, lacked inspiration and didn’t deserve the win, but that didn’t stop coach José Mourinho from commenting on the refereeing, both in his team’s game and the game at Old Trafford: “One rule is not to allow penalties against Man United and another says none in favour of Chelsea,” he said. He claimed two penalties were not awarded to his team, and one was not given against Manchester United in added time of their game when John O’Shea clearly brought down Lee Dong-Gook.
Elsewhere, Watford confirmed their inevitable relegation when they could only draw 1-1 at home to Manchester City. Also at the bottom, West Ham were the only team that won, and although they remain second from bottom, there are now only four points separating five clubs with just three games to play. Four points also separate five teams challenging for Europe: Everton, Bolton, Reading, Portsmouth and Tottenham. Reading pulled off perhaps the result of the weekend with a 3-1 win at Bolton, their three goals coming in the last ten minutes. Meanwhile, Portsmouth goalkeeper David James was setting a new record of clean sheets in the Premiership: 142: beating the record held by Arsenal’s David Seaman; his team drew 0-0 at Aston Villa.
Finally, the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) announced on Sunday the awards for Premiership Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, won by Cristiano Ronaldo, and … Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively. It was the first time that the same player has won both awards in 30 years, the last one being Aston Villa’s Andy Gray in 1977. Cristiano Ronaldo had to overcome a lot of pressure at the beginning of the season after he was blamed by English fans for Wayne Rooney being sent off in the World Cup game between England and Portugal, but his football has silenced his critics. “It’s a tremendous honour for me, and to be the first Portuguese player to win this award makes it even more special,” he said. It also helped, of course, to be part of a special team: the PFA Team of the Year includes eight (!) Manchester United players.
by Phil Town
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