No words can describe how gutted I feel now. We had the chance to close the gap on Chelsea by 3 points but we blew our chance. Now instead of closing the gap, we allowed Chelsea to extend their lead. Chelsea play Norwich City today and with the quality Chelsea have in their team, this game will be a walk in the park.

Man Utd have now played 29 games with 63 points while Chelsea have 68 points having played 27 games. Man Utd is actually on a run. 10 games undefeated in 11. The only time they lost was the 1-0 result against Milan in the champions league. Many would have expected Man Utd to win and to put on the pressure on Chelsea. I was secretly thrilled cuz I felt if we continued our good form, we could actually win the league. Now, it's an uphill battle. Chelsea still have to play us and Arsenal and in football, things are very unpredictable but I guess I'll have to concede that Chelsea will be champions this season.

My view of the match was that Fergie made several tactical mistakes. The leg 2 against Milan next week was obviously weighing on the United players mind more than the match they were playing. Fergie started cautiously. Playing 5 in midfield with only Ruud upfront. That I felt was what cost us. Fergie rested several key players and I know it's essential to rest them cuz the Milan match is very important too. We have to overturn a 1-0 deficit and playing in Italy and at the San Siro is going to be very tough plus Milan have the away goal advantage.

We just couldn't score. The 4-5-1 formation would have suited Europe perfectly but perhaps against Crystal Palace, Fergie should have gone with the 4-4-2 formation with Smith and Ruud leading the line. He tried to up the tempo in the 2nd half bringing on Scholes and Ronaldo for Phil and Fortune. It worked but Crystal Palace was defending as though their lives depended on this win. True. A draw would be considered as a win to them since they're battling relegation. A 1 point against Manchester United is a very very good result. Not to mention earning the 1 point with only 10 men. (They had a player sent off in the 2nd half)

Still, we couldn't score cuz Fergie still stuck with the 4-5-1 formation. Smith, a striker playing as a midfield. True, he's versatile and he's very hardworking. He'll play anywhere as long as he can play. But when we're playing to win, and to cut Chelsea's lead to a mere 3 points, I felt we should have been more adventurous. Then the killer blow. Instead of replacing the obviously lacking match fitness Ruud, he replaced Smith with Rooney. To me, I think that was a bad decision. Ruud lacked match fitness and he was tiring at the end of the match. There were many times in the match when you'll put your life for Ruud to score but it didn't happen today. If he was match fit, it will definitely be a goal.

The match didn't exactly go our way in the first half. The linesman made an error that ruled Keane for offside when he was perfectly onside. But I guess this happens in football. Things don't always go your way. It was a tense finale with us attacking and attacking and Crystal Palace defending and defending. We only had Howard and Silvestre at the back. The other 9 were attacking and Crystal Palace defended with all 10 men behind the ball.

What to do? Fergie tried to up the tempo but I guess it was too late. If only we didn't start too cautiously.. If only he didn't play either Fortune or Phil and played Scholes or Ronaldo instead.. If only he replaced Ruud instead of Smith, we could have won the match.. But it doesn't matter now. The fact will still remain that we failed to win what we were expected to win, and we've almost single-handedly (with the wrong call from that bloody linesman) undone the good work we've done in the past weeks...

Staring into the Abyss,