Sports Thread #1 For 2/10/10: Believe it Or Not, But Arsenal Are Back In The Title Race

Photos from Empics

Thanks to the "Big freeze" of January, another full round of fixtures for the mid week was needed for the Barclays Premier League. And the intensity of the encounters exemplified the pressure increasing as the season is well into its second half.

Despite they blew another lead, Wigan were able to hold on at home for a draw against a hard charging Stoke side trying to insure safety for a second straight season in the top flight with nice comfort.

Though the scoreline may have flatter them, Fulham were nevertheless terrific in there 3-0 win at Craven Cottage over a Burnley side fresh off giving Brian Laws his first win as a manager in the Premier League over the weekend.

In a wild Derby game, Ivory Coast forward Aruna Dindane was able to score in the dying seconds of the game to give crash struck Portsmouth a valuable point in a 1-1 draw with rivals Sunderland.

Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor led Manchester City's bounce back after a bad loss to Hull City on Saturday, as both score to give Roberto Mancini's side a 2-0 win over Bolton.

Now, to today's 6 games. And there was nothing short of importance and exciting from these results.

Thanks to an own goal off of Hull keeper Boaz Myhill, Blackburn got a vital home win over the Tigers by the score of 1-0.

If vital was the word to describe the Rovers' victory, than you can times that by threefold for West Ham, as the exciting duo of Alessandro Diamanti and Carlton Cole gave the Hammers the needed home "W" over Birmingham City 2-0.

Now, to the Top 4 aspirations and title picture
Wolverhampton didn't care about Tottenham's thoughts for a Top 4 place again, as they beat Spurs at Mollineux, thanks to a David Jones 27th minute, 1-0. That win gets them out of the Bottom 3 like West Ham did today.

Alou Diaby's 74th minute header gave Arsenal a win over a Big 4 club final, defeating liverpool 1-0 at the Emirates to stop the bleeding they received from Chelsea and Manchester United. But was that win too little too late for their seemingly faint title hopes?

Well, apparently no.

The Gunners are still in the title picture thanks to Louis Saha's terrific brace, as Everton defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Goodison Park.

The former Manchester United man certainly helped his old team a lot, as they ended up in a 1-all draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park despite going down to 10 men in the 27th minute as Nani was sent off for a harsh red card. However, you wouldn't have known who had the man advantage, as United held their own and thensome against Villa. In fact, United had the best chance of getting the go ahead goal, as Wayne Rooney put on another stellar performance with a cheeky chip shot effort that took the brilliance of Brad Friedel to keep out of the net.

Those results for the Top 2 tonight at hostile away environments put Arsenal right back into the title picture, 6 points behind Chelsea and 5 behind United.

In the race for 4th place, Manchester City has won this swing of games, as Tottenham falling to Wolves for the second time this season really hurts them while Aston Villa and Liverpool couldn't defeat United and Arsenal respectively.

And thanks to their defeats last night, Owen Coyle's old site and new side are back in the Bottom 3.

The excitement of the league will hold off this weekend thanks to FA Cup play. But the tension will continue to grow.