The Barclays Premier League title race has taken yet another twist after this weekend's Manchester and London derbies with Manchester United decreasing Chelsea's lead to just a single point atop of the standings with just three matches to go.
A string of four poor results - two losses, a win that felt like a loss and a goalless draw in a 13-day span, saw United's season crashing before their very own eyes, but a goal with 19 seconds left against Manchester City has revitalized their goal to lift their 19th league title.
At 09.30 EST, Carlo Ancelotti was about to place an order for one of the finest wine to present to his fellow Italian, Roberto Mancini, for helping him get closer to his first title in English football, but like Chelsea's title celebrations, that order was bottled.
Paul Scholes' dramatic match-winner in stoppage time not only closed the gap Chelsea's lead at the top of the standings, but it also put pressure on them ahead their match with Tottenham Hotspur.
The way the players, the supporters and the coaching staff celebrated the victory was very reminiscent of the win against Everton in the 2007/08 season - a victory that gave them the confidence they were going to win the title.
According to Gary Neville, Sir Alex Ferguson asked his players before the match if they wanted to win title, and the response he was given was something he will be proud of.
The league leaders would have been able to all but secure their third Premier League title in six seasons with a win, but instead they imploded and were completely battered by Spurs and crashed to a 2-1 defeat.
A late Frank Lampard goal made the scoreline look a lot closer than it was, but Spurs could have - and really should have -scored five or six, but they failed to convert chance after chance.
If United are to win their 12th Premier League title, it will be one of Chelsea's players who will have shifted the pendulum in their favor.
Disgraced
The most telling part of the match was how their iconic captain, John Terry, was sent off for two bookable offenses.
A captain is suppose to lead by example and not allow the atmosphere of the match to affect, but everytime Terry touched the ball he was subject to a series of boos, and he showed signs of cracking before he was given his marching orders.
The former England captain was lucky to not have picked up a booking in the first-half when he pulled, pushed and grabbed Jermaine Defoe, but the referee, Phil Dowd some how did not see the series of infractions.
However, a few minutes later Dowd correctly adjudged Terry for handling of the ball in the box and Defoe emphatically dispatched the spot kick to give Spurs a well deserved lead.
At half-time Terry also got into it with a Spurs fan, which showed his lack of focus and control, which Ancelotti admitted his captain lost the plot.
Following his sending off, Ancelotti gave Terry a look of death and disbelief as he walked between the benches and down the tunnel to the showers.
Because of his lack of composure, Terry will miss their next match against Stoke City, which leaves Ancelotti having to pair Alex and Branislav Ivanovic in central defense.
Sweetest
If United are to secure this title, it will be one of the most thrilling comebacks in Premier League title history.
United have twice come-from-behind to secure Premier League titles when they over came Newcastle's 12 point lead in 1995/96 and then Arsenal's eight point advantage in 2002/03, but this would season's success would take the cake.
The title is still Chelsea's to lose, because they not only have a one point lead, but they also have a superior goal difference (+3), so United can only hope for another slip up, and it could come from their archrival.
Like United, Chelsea has three matches left, and on paper their most difficult match is trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool, so it will be very interesting to see how Rafael Benitez chooses, because he will not want do United or Ferguson any favors.
Liverpool will be without their leading goal scoring threat, because Fernando Torres has had to go under the knife to resolve the ongoing problem with his knee.
As the proved in the derby, Manchester United has always been a team that never gives up until the final whistle and they will fight tooth and nail until the final whistle of this season in an attempt to land their fourth consecutive Barclays Premier League title.
