EPL
Until Sanchez denied Burnley a dramatic late point with his contentious spot-kick, it had been the perfect weekend for the Stamford Bridge side.
Before Antonio Conte’s players had even kicked a ball, Liverpool had suffered their first home defeat in 12 months, 3-2 against bottom club Swansea City; Manchester United were forced to rely on a stoppage time — and record-breaking — free kick from Wayne Rooney to salvage a 1-1 draw at Stoke; and Manchester City and Spurs emerged with a point that suited neither club’s ambitions in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad.
Had Sanchez not claimed three points for Arsenal, which moved them up to second behind Conte’s team who defeated Hull City 2-0 later in the day, it would have been tempting to suggest that the title race was over and that the focus would now shift to the five-way fight for the remaining three Champions League berths.
But despite Chelsea’s commanding eight-point lead, it is too early for their challengers to start waving the white flag. There is still plenty of this race to be ran and it begins to get serious next week when the Blues travel to Anfield and then face Arsenal at home in the space of five days.
Those are the fixtures which have become the focus of those watching the title race, with Liverpool also due to face Spurs and Arsenal in the coming weeks. But while Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal prepare for some seismic encounters, City and United have the opportunity to reignite their challenge from fifth and sixth position.
Much depends, of course, on Chelsea’s performances at Anfield and against Arsenal. If they emerge from those two games with six points, it will be difficult to envisage any of the chasing pack being able to reel them in.
But any slip in two hugely demanding games will open the door for the rest to close in and, with 16 games to play and 48 points to play for, all of the top six remain capable of winning the title. Pep Guardiola claimed after the 4-0 defeat at Everton that City were out of the title race, but the Spaniard subsequently back-tracked at the weekend by insisting he will “never give up” on winning the league this season.
City clearly need to find some consistency after a dismal recent run but if, as expected, United reach the EFL Cup final and force the postponement of next month’s Manchester derby, Guardiola’s players face a run of games over the next seven weeks which gives them the chance to make huge strides in the league.