Arsenal: arseblog.com: The best team won

We've had some disappointing nights in Europe down the years. Too many to mention and enough to garner their own acronym here on Arseblog, but last night has to be the most disappointing, heartbreaking of them all.

What was supposed to be one of the biggest nights at the Grove became a night to forget after just 10 minutes. Arsenal started promisingly, we were busy, passed it well, full of energy. And then Kieran Gibbs slipped, Ronaldo's cross went behind him and Park got the luck of the bounce and finished smartly to put United one up.

On its own not a disaster and there can be no finger pointing at Gibbs who was obviously crushed by the mistake. Anyone can slip. We've seen Gael Clichy make bigger mistakes than that and the young man should hold his head high for the job he's done since he came into the team. We all suspected United might score and for them to do so after 8 minutes was probably better than after 80. We had time to make it better.

Then the ref, who was generous to United all night I thought, bought a Ronaldo dive from a van Persie challenge and gave United a free kick a good 35-40 yards out. The ballerina took it himself, Almunia got it all wrong and United were 2-0 up. The Grove was silenced, Arsenal heads went down, it was all over. The crowd knew, the players knew, Arsene knew. It was over. Afterwards Arsene said it was 'impossible' to come back from that.

Chelsea: bluechampions.com: The Champions League jinx continues

Chelsea were robbed. The referee simply hated Chelsea FC. In match terms, he just refused to give penalties to Chelsea. There were at least three of them by my count. You even had Gerard Pique admitting on TV the handball that he was involved in. There was a handball even in the last 10 seconds of the match. Going by his reluctance, even a goal-keeper like save by an outfield player would not have been called hand ball. In the first half, you had Malouda brought down very clearly inside the box and being given a free kick. The referee was a complete joke. Either he is the worst referee in Europe or he is the most corrupt.

By the way, Chelsea played a fantastic game of football. They attacked and created several good chances, they defended resolutely and is terribly unlucky to be the losing side. We simply played Barca out of the game. They had a lot of possession but did not have even ONE shot on target until stoppage time. Meanwhile, Chelsea had so many chances to kill the game.

I say Chelsea were robbed because there were at least three stonewall penalties that were denied. Jose Mourinho has always said how referees and UEFA favoured clubs like Barcelona and Milan. I believe him. Chelsea deserved to win tonight by a margin of some goals. The only thing' that was between Chelsea and the champions league final was that Barca-supporting referee.I'm backing and supporting Man Utd to win the champions league. Barscum must be beaten and put where they belong to.

Fulham: hammyend.com: Villa to pose a threat

After beating Hull City last night, Aston Villa have secured European football for another year. It might not be the Champions' League place that they were looking so good for at one stage this season, but Martin O'Neill's achievements at Villa Park shouldn't be overlooked...

A Villa liberated from the shackles is a truly frightening prospect. They are vibrant, threatening side with all the pace and talent O'Neill can field. I felt we were pretty fortunate to escape with a point from the away game earlier this season. With Barry pulling the strings and the likes of Agbonlahor and Ashley Young to test our defence, it should be a good game. Factor in John Carew, he of the failed Fulham medical, and Emile Heskey and we could be in for a long afternoon on Saturday.

Tottenham: whitehartpain.com: Merseyside fixtures will be crucial

When I suggested Tottenham had an outside chance of securing European football next season through our league position, I was laughed at and only had Glenn Hoddle for support. With three games to go, we only one point away from a spot in next season's Europa League.

I'd expect us to beat Man City at home in two weeks time but either side of that match are games at both the Premiership teams from Merseyside.

First up are Everton. David Moyes has again worked wonders with little resources this season and they have an FA Cup final to look forward to. Their recent results suggest they are still very much focused on the league but we can only hope that game begins to play on some of the minds of the first team. It will be a tough match but Everton have lost 5 at home this season and I think it's a game we can win but a draw is probably the most likely result.

As far as Liverpool are concerned, Spurs seem to be their bogey side in recent times. We ended their unbeaten record in the Premier League and then took apart a weakened side in the Carling Cup. They are yet to taste defeat at Anfield in the league this season but maybe Tottenham can continue the trend of recent games against them and inflict their first home defeat.

Realistically though, I think a draw is again the best we can hope for.

Five points from the final 3 games might not be enough and I think we will need to win one of the away fixtures assuming we beat Man City that is.

West Ham: westhamblog.co.uk: Neill impresses in victory

West Ham did us proud once again on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Stoke City, becoming only the fourth team to go to the Britannia and get all 3 points this season.

It was by no means an easy task, the game was very physical and with Rory Delap peppering the box with his long throws, the defensive line more than earned their money by resisting everything Stoke threw at them. At the centre of this was Robert Green who, while David James was spilling tepid headers at Fratton Park, showed while he should be in consideration for a starting place in the England line up. Green handled long balls and stopped shots with great skill and agility all game, much to the frustration of the impressive Ricardo Fuller.

Man of the match for the Hammers was yet again Lucas Neill who put in another captain's performance. I don't know if it is the contract negotiations or the management that is pushing Neill to put in these performances, but he has been key for us in the second half of this season. While I think a pacy right back such as Glen Johnson will be an important purchase for us in the Summer, Neill has illustrated he is still more than up to the task for now.