If the Fat Lady wasn’t already singing about a 13th Premier League title for Man Utd then she must have at least been warming up when Aguero smashed in the winner for City and end the blue half of Manchester’s 44 years of pain. Such scenes, the likes of which we will never likely see again.

In the end it was only 8 goals that separated CIty from United but 6 of those were achieved in City’s double over their cross-town rivals, a 1-0 win at Eastlands and that extraordinary 6-1 victory at Old Trafford.

It’s easy to forget that QPR was fighting for Premier League survival and had Bolton beaten Stoke then those two late goals could have sent them down and QPR’s fans, players and staff would have been exact mirror images of their City counterparts. As it was Bolton could only manage a draw and join Blackburn and Wolves in the Championship whilst for only the second time in the Premier League, all three promoted clubs stay up.

Alex McLeish found himself out go a job as Aston Villa decided that the season’s flirtation with relegation was just too close for comfort which means that the nation’s second city has two vacancies. Norwich have already issued a :hands off” for Paul Lambert and no doubt Swansea City will be doing the same for Brendon Rodgers. No doubt that LMA Manager of the Season, Alan Pardew, won’t be going anywhere.

• Will Tevez and Balotelli be at Eastlands next season and what new faces might appear?
• Is next season going to be tougher for Mancini as expectation levels rise?
• Should Spurs’ fans be disappointed by a fourth place finish?
• Will Kenny Dalglish still be at Liverpool next season?
• Does Di Matteo need to win the Champions League in order to get the Chelsea job full-time?

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None of the next 6 clubs won which means that 3rd spot was taken out of Arsenal’s hands and then put firmly back in thanks to a draw for Spurs and losses for Newcastle and Chelsea.

And as for relegation, Blackburn Rovers was finally put out of its misery – by Wigan appropriately – but who’ll be the third club is still down to Bolton and QPR.

At least we know who won the FA Cup.

• With the FA Cup win has Di Matteo done enough to get the managerial position on a permanent basis?
• Should Steve Keen stay at Blackburn and who’s he going to have to work with?
• Dave Whelan won’t stand in Martinez’s way if a “real” club shows interest but just who is a “real” club?
• QPR will go to Eastlands thinking they need a point – can they get a draw against City and not only help themselves but also Manchester United?
• Or will it be Bolton celebrating survival with a last day win over Stoke?

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Wolves manager Terry Connor was almost in tears again, this time from pride after seeing his relegated side battle back from 3-0 down after only 15 minutes and 4-1 down at 31 minutes for an incredible 4-4 draw. Wolves had only scored 15 goals in 17 away games up to that point

And amongst the drama there was also some lighter moments the highlight being a couple of thousand Stoke fans in the stand behind Arsene Wenger all imitating the Gunner’s coach agitated arm waving.

Meanwhile in the North West, only the Robertos were smiling:

• Was Cisse’s second at Stamford Bridge simply a freak of footballing nature?
• Did SAF get his tactics all wrong at Eastlands and unnecessarily concede the initiative to City?
• Can Newcastle break City hearts or will the title be over by Sunday teatime?
• Arsenal, Spurs or Newcastle – who gets 3rd?
• With no attempts on goal against Spurs, could Rovers’ fans be forgiven for venting their spleens at the final home game of the season?
• Can Bolton muster enough points in their last 2 games to pip QPR?
• Who will win the FA Cup?

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Lionel Messi hits that penalty just a couple of inches lower and it’s 3-1 Barca and goodnight Chelsea; instead it’s the Blues taking on Bayern Munich at the Allianz.

Patrice Evra buries his header from only 4 yards and it’s 5-2 and Man Utd take a 5pt buffer into the game at Eastlands; instead he hits the post, Utd drop 2 points and City have the chance of going top.

Meanwhile, Villa fans are voicing their displeasure with Alex McLeish and along with countryman Steve Keen could find his reign cut short regardless of whether he avoids relegation.

This week we mull over:

• Can Utd trust their defence enough to play for a draw?
• If City win can they also beat Newcastle and QPR to secure the title?
• Is fan unrest Aston Villa and Blackburn’s biggest hurdle to avoiding relegation?
• Spurs play 2 of the bottom 3 clubs in a week – can they find some form and give themselves a chance of 4th?
• And do the new financial rules for the Championship help widen the gap to the Premier League?

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For more information on sudden death in young adults, visit www.heartregistry.org.au and www.sads.org.au.

The controversy started at Wembley before a ball was kicked with the Chelsea fans not observing the minutes silence and continued with the goal that never was – even with the naked eye. It then reared its ugly head at Old Trafford where Ashley Young seems to be of the opinion that a striker’s job is to earn penalties and not to score goals. Ironically the day before had seen the striker who isn’t score the winner for Liverpool.

But whilst the Merseyside FA Cup semi was one to forget, and Spurs will be desperately trying to forget the London semi, Wigan fans will be composing songs and getting tattoos about a run of form that has yielded more points from the last 10 games than from the first 24 and has included first ever wins at Anfield, against Man Utd and at the Emirates.

All of which has left us pondering:

• Was it being overly optimistic for the FA to expect the minutes silence for the Hillsborough tragedy to be fully observed in a game not featuring Liverpool?
• Has FIFA deliberately sought to go down the goal line tech path rather than good old video replay because it’s so darn complicated it’s not likely to become reality?
• Is it possible that Cruyff and Dalglish could work together at Liverpool?
• How should Chelsea approach their game at the Emirates given that they take that 1-0 lead to Camp Nou four days later?
• Is the game of the weekend QPR v Spurs with both clubs having no form and yet so much to play for?
• Steve Keen reckons 35 points is enough to survive – but has he got his sums right?
• And Wigan – can they handle the pressure of being favourites to stay up?

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It also rekindled Man City fans’ hope that the title race is not all done and dusted although publicly at least, their manager Roberto Mancini is saying it’s over but as his namesake at the DW will tell him, it’s never over until the maths says it is.

Much to discuss this week, including:

• A slight shift im momentum to City but United are surely still firmly in the driving seat
• With Spurs’ wagon now wheeless and Chelsea distracted by Cups domestic and European, is in-from Newcastle favourite to take fourth spot in the league?
• QPR and Wigan seem to have the momentum at the bottom of the table so could Blackburn be the first Premier League winner to be relegated?
• Would Ashley Young had been booked for diving if the game had been at Loftus Road>
• Who needs an FA Cup semi-final win the most?

Plus a look at the weekend’s fixtures.

Download show 25 (mp3, 26MB)

P.S. The sound quality is a little ropey this week – hopefully back to normal next week.

• Is it simply pressure that has caused City to drop yet more points in the title run-in or are Mancini’s team not quite as committed to the badge as their United counterparts?
• If City finish to the season empty-handed will Mancini be given a third bite of the cherry?
• Andy Carroll’s homecoming will be remembered for all the wrong reasons – was that really his plan to endear himself to his once adoring fans?
• Everton are having their usual strong finish to the season – will they be going into the FA Cup semi with Liverpool as favourites?
• Only three goals separates Swansea from Norwich on the table so why do the Welsh club and their manager get all the plaudits?
• Does QPR’s win over Arsenal prove that they can avoid relegation?

Plus a look at the upcoming Easter fixture schedule.

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It’s also amazing how sometimes the most innocuous looking set of fixtures can throw up the most bizarre results and this week was one of those weeks. Whilst Everton’s shock 2-0 away win over Swansea has little impact on the league table, other unexpected results have profound implications for both the title race and the relegation battle:

• Does WIgan’s first ever win at Anfield say more about the Latics or about Liverpool?
• Is Mark Hughes’ a dead man walking at QPR (and has Cisse put him there)?
• Is the pressure all becoming a bit too much for Manchester City?
• Can Newcastle pip Chelsea for 5th spot and even catch Spurs in 4th?
• How will Di Matteo prioritise the Champs League, the FA Cup and the Premier League?

Plus a look at the weekend’s fixtures including Bolton’s pivotal visit to Wolves.

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Many claim that this puts football into perspective – meaning that it is just a game – but that admirable sentiment does football a disservice. The fact that so many followers of the game were so touched by events at WHL, even the fact that Fabrice himself was asking about the result minutes after regaining conciousness shows that football is hugely important to a great many people.

It also went a long way to showing the knockers of football and the English Premier League in particular, that the Louis Suarezs and potentially John Terrys are in the minority.

• How do Bolton pull themselves together for their relegation clash against Blackburn on Saturday, or do Rovers have the tougher job?
• What is Kenny Dalglish to do after Liverpool lose from 2-0 up with only 13 minutes to go?
• Can Spurs get their house in order before their crunch game away to Chelsea?
• Was Man City’s 2-1 win over the Blues their sweetest win yet of their 100% home record?
• Can Newcastle catch either Chelsea or Spurs and grab a Europa Cup spot?

Plus the weekend fixtures!

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