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Super Sunday lived up to its name
Comments (3)
Monday, May 12, 2008 | 02:06 PM ET
A day has passed since the English Premiership's Super Sunday and I'm still trying to catch my breath.
Nothing puts soccer fans on edge more that a good old-fashioned title race that goes down to the wire - except maybe a relegation battle - but thankfully for English footie fans, they had both yesterday.
In case you missed it (and if so, let me ask you this - under what kind of a rock, exactly, have you been living under?) Manchester United earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory on the road over Wigan to retain the title in the closest title race in years.
At the other end of the table, Fulham won 1-0 at Fratton over FA Cup final-bound Portsmouth to ensure their safety for another year and sending Reading and Birmingham City down in their place.
The Red Devils totally dominated Wigan but could only muster a single goal and when Chelsea took a 1-0 lead at Stamford Bridge, Man U fans at JJB Stadium began to sweat a little bit - had Wigan notched an equalizer and Chelsea scored a second goal, the championship would have went to the Blues.
But Ryan Giggs, who tied Sir Bobby Charlton's record for appearances with United, secured the title for the Reds, scoring with 10 minutes left in regulation.
What a site is was to behold to see Giggs, the greatest British player (by far) of his era, scoring the goal that guaranteed United its second consecutive league championship. It could not have happened to a nicer of classier guy than the Welshman.
Relegation battles usually don't interest me, but I had a stake in this one because of Fulham's involvement. I've had a soft spot for the London-club ever since I saw them play Aston Villa to a thrilling 3-3 draw a few years ago at Craven Cottage, and I was pulling for them to escape the trap door.
Thankfully, the Cottagers pulled out the win over Portsmouth to avoid the drop.
I have to tell you, this was one of the best days I've spent in a long time.
I was able to experience all of it through the magical world of digital cable - I was furiously flipping back and forth between all three games - and the sheer tension, drama and skill on display reminded me, once again, why this is the greatest sport of them all.
I get to live through all of this again next weekend, too: the Serie A title and relegation battle will decided Sunday on the final day of the season.
Can't wait!
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About the Author
John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBC Sport Online whose chief love is international soccer. John served as senior editor of Sports Online's Euro 2004 website, which helped him win a CBC.ca Award of Excellence, and was the driving force behind our coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He holds an honours BA in sociology from York University and a print journalism diploma from Sheridan College, and is also the author of The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time (Stewart House, 2002).
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Comments (3)
Al Fayed
Harrods
Well done to Roy Hodgson for keeping Fulham up and shame on Steve Coppell for Reading's super slide. Good to see Birmingham drop too!!
And, what can be said about Derby? Nothing really because they were poor all season long and go down in history as the worst EPL team of all time.
Posted May 12, 2008 06:03 PM
Frank Z.
The only disappointment in all of this was that if Chelski had won, they would have still lost the title on goal differential. I am all for giving the teams motivation to keep hammering in goals during blowouts, but what a thrill it would have been to have a final, uncscheduled playoff next weekend, a few days before the two teams meet in the Champions League final. This is one spot where the Italians have it right, playoff when tied.
Posted May 13, 2008 11:34 AM
Mikael JerZ
Playoffs would have been awesome (as a chelsea fan...i lived there '90-'92 and loved them...now theyre alright...kinda became the 'other' manU) but if i were a man U fan playoffs would have seemed stupid, them scoring all those goals means they earned it, im sick of chelsea's 1-0 boring wins...2-1 boring wins and all boring game in general. nobody is talking about arsenal at all...they came pretty close to chelsea and theyre in a "re-building" type of season...as for the relegation battle...sad day for B-ham. the announcer stated it was a "bittersweet" day... thats false...its a sad day man...sad day. hopefully my main man larsson gets picked up by a good team.
Posted May 19, 2008 08:22 PM