There is no third option

Arsenal are finally out of the title race

There are only two rounds left before the end of the English Championship, but most questions still remain unanswered. Including the most important one: who will be the new champion of England? On Saturday, the circle of contenders narrowed. Arsenal has dropped out of the list of applicants, and only two are vying to win the tournament - Chelsea and Manchester United. The current champion Manchester United is playing the role of catching up - it is one point behind the Londoners.

In such a situation, Manchester United has no right to misfire, and therefore every match is very important for the Red Devils. And against such an opponent as Tottenham Hotspur - doubly so. After all, Spurs' dream of qualifying for the Champions League is very close to coming true. It is extremely difficult to beat such an opponent, and even without the injured Wayne Rooney.

The entire first half was an even fight, but without goals. At the beginning of the second half, Roman Pavlyuchenko should have scored, but missed the goal from five meters. The hosts responded with a siege of Heurelio Gomez's goal, in which all field players participated. Defender Patrice Evra's raid ended with a penalty kick, but Ryan Giggs did not flinch - 1:0.

But the Londoners were not going to lose. In the 70th minute, Gareth Bale earned a corner, and he himself sent it to where Spurs captain Ledley King jumped the highest - 1:1. And yet, Manchester United snatched victory thanks to Nani’s efforts. The Portuguese first scored himself, and then earned another penalty, which was again converted by Giggs. Manchester United took the lead for a while.

Arsenal, which had theoretical chances of winning the championship until Saturday, lost them in the home match with Manchester City. Just 0:0, and now the Gunners are firmly entrenched in third place. City continue to fight for the only remaining vacancy in the Champions League, but their chances have been sharply undermined by the injury of goalkeeper Shay Given. The most experienced Irishman injured his shoulder and was out for the rest of the season. One of the richest clubs in the Premier League was left with one goalkeeper - the representative of the Faroe Islands, Gunnar Nielsen. Meanwhile, a candidate for the England national team, owned by MS, Joe Hart is on loan from Birmingham and cannot return from there until the end of the championship.

Chelsea sat in second position for only a day, and then got angry at Stoke City - 7:0. With the score 2:0, the Potters' goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen was injured, and Asmir Begovic was hit with balls one after another. Salomon Kalou scored his first hat-trick in the English Premier League, Frank Lampard scored two goals, Daniel Sturridge and Florent Malouda scored once each. Yuri Zhirkov did not participate in this scoring feast due to poor health.

What do we have two rounds before the finish? On May 2, the Blues play Liverpool at Anfield, while Manchester United travel to Sunderland. On May 9, the contenders have relatively easy home matches. Manchester will play Stoke City, and the Londoners will play Wigan. It is not difficult to guess that Chelsea's calendar is more difficult, and Liverpool can help their principal rivals from Manchester United become champions for the fourth time in a row. By the way, in the history of English football no one has ever managed to win four titles in a row.

No one will take third place from Arsenal, but there will be a battle for the fourth spot. In addition to Tottenham and Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool, who performed very successfully in the 36th round, are also fighting for the right to play in the Champions League. Villa prevailed in the Birmingham derby, and Liverpool wrote Burnley's ticket to the lower league by beating the newcomers 4-0. Thus, all three losers are known - Burnley will be joined by Hull City and Portsmouth. They will definitely be replaced by Newcastle and West Bromwich, who are returning to the elite. Five clubs are vying for the third spot, including two representatives from Wales - Cardiff City and Swansea. Cardiff City have already secured their participation in the additional tournament, the Swans have not yet. So next season the English Premier League could become English-Welsh.

The season is not over yet, but the British have already started distributing prizes. Wayne Rooney, as expected, became the best Premier League footballer according to the Professional Footballers' Association. Wayne was recognized as the best young player in the league twice - in 2005 and 2006, but the Manchester United forward won the adult competition for the first time. James Milner from Aston Villa was named the best young footballer. The best player according to journalists has not yet been named, but Rooney will most likely also be recognized as one.

Results. 36th round. Manchester United - Tottenham - 3:1, Hull - Sunderland - 0:1, Wolverhampton - Blackburn - 1:1, Bolton - Portsmouth "- 2:2, West Ham - Wigan - 3:2, Arsenal - Manchester City - 0:0, Aston Villa - Birmingham - 1: 0, Burnley - Liverpool - 0:4, Everton - Fulham - 2:1, Chelsea - Stoke City - 7:0.

English Championship. Premier League I V N P M O

1. Chelsea	36	25	5	6	93--32	80
2. Manchester United	36	25	4	7	81--28	79
3. Arsenal	36	22	6	8	78--39	72
4. Tottenham	35	19	7	9	63--37	64
5. Aston Villa	36	17	13	6	51--35	64
6. Manchester City	35	17	12	6	69--42	63
7. Liverpool	36	18	8	10	61--33	62
8. Everton	36	15	12	9	59--49	57
9. Birmingham	36	12	11	13	35--44	47
10. Sunderland	36	11	11	14	47--53	44
11. Blackburn	36	11	11	14	38--54	44
12. Fulham	35	11	10	14	36--39	43
13. Stoke City	35	10	13	12	33--44	43
14. Bolton	36	9	9	18	40--65	36
15. Wolverhampton	36	8	11	17	29--52	35
16. Wigan	36	9	8	19	35--69	35
17. West Ham	36	8	10	18	44--62	34
18. "Hull"	36	6	10	20	32--73	28
19. Burnley	36	7	6	23	37--78	27
20. Portsmouth*	36	6	7	23	31--64	16

*Portsmouth was deducted 9 points by league decision.

Oleg TIMOFEEV