No, it's not Chelsea vs ManU

I never actually expected to be able to watch the match, having been deprived of my weekly dose of the Premier League since the past three months. However, in a surprising turn of events, a couple of friends took over the common television that hangs by the poolside right after dinner and switched the channel to ESPN. A handful of protestations were swiftly silenced after a few more people joined in to watch the big match at 9:30 PM. Now the stage was set – we had 3 Chelsea fans, a couple of ManU fans and an Arsenal fan who was hoping for a draw, in addition to a few neutrals.

The match began in a cagey manner, typical of such encounters. Every tackle, shot on goal and piece of skill was greeted with oohs and aahs by our enthusiastic bunch of football fans. And we also had the obligatory discussions about the best players, how much ManU are missing Ronaldo and will Fergie blame the ref again if ManU lose. After the opening 45 minutes had produced a 0-0 scoreline, we awaited the second half with bated breath, hoping to see a genuine goal-scoring threat from either team ( preferably The Blues).

The second half was almost a carbon-copy of the first one, until a controversial decision to award a freekick to Chelsea resulted in John Terry putting the Blues ahead with a headed goal. 1-0 to Chelsea it was, and the ManU players on the pitch were fuming. What folowed was more than just a football match, with loads of shirt-tugging, tripping the opposition players and time-wasting being more prominent than the football itself. But inspite of United’s continued protests and frustration, as well as the referee’s erratic decision-making, Chelsea hung on to record yet another victory. We are now the league leaders with a 5 point advantage over the second-placed team.

Okay, so the game wasn’t a classic but it was my first experience watching a match with friends and foes (of course, with regards to allegiances only). And I gotta say, it was bloody awesome! Taunting the rival fans when we’re playing well and appreciating the opposition players when they play well is something that is usually restricted only to message-boards, forums or the stadium. But here, we enjoyed every bit of it and had a great time. And of course, the 34″ LCD TV had a big part to play as well.

So a great ending to the weekend and I managed to have a good night’s sleep, which is why this blog o’ mine is alive and kicking once again.