I Rooted for Chelsea ...

For one evening only.

Who doesn't want to witness a close title fight? Knowing that Chelsea will lose any chance of winning this year's English Premiership title, I decided to put aside how much I hate them and rooted for them in their match against Arsenal over the weekend.

It wasn't a difficult decision at all. My logics were, firstly, Chelsea didn't play Liverpool, my favourite club since childhood. Secondly, they were playing Arsenal, a club which I happen to dislike too. Thirdly, Arsenal was only a point behind Liverpool in fourth place, and a win would enable them take third place. And finally, if Chelsea managed to beat Arsenal, then their match against Manchester United this Wednesday night would have been an explosive encounter.

To be fair, Chelsea always play fluent and beautiful football, and always become an even more well-oiled machine against my Liverpool. Yet just as I have often been disappointed by Liverpool's sluggishness in front of goal, Chelsea simply let me down for not playing good football at Arsenal.

Perhaps it's a lesson to remind me not to root for any club. They will be doomed if I support them.

Chelsea were missing its starter strikers Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko though injury, while the diminutive Joe Cole was the only out-and-out forward. It didn't surprise me that they didn't create any good scoring opportunity in the first-half. And when the ever-ineffective and incompetent Khalid Bouhlarouz brought down Julio Baptista in the penalty area, Chelsea were a man and a goal down just before half-time.

With the absence of centre-back Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien had to be moved back to the centre of defence, which proved to be a shrewd move as he made a number of crucial tackles and blocks which prevented his team from going further behind. And it was indeed Essien who equalized bravely for Chelsea midway through the second-half for his second goal of the season. Incidentally, his two league goals this season have both come against Arsenal.

In a strange move, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho brought on 18-year-old striker Scott Sinclair for his Premiership debut. Just as everyone was wondering what that was about, it was Sinclair who almost created the oh-so important winning goal, where a move started by him from the left gave the unmarked Salomon Kalou acres of spaces in front of goal. Yet his over-reliance on his right foot forced him shoot straight at Jens Lehmann just as injury time was about to expire.

In the end the 1-1 draw was a fair result, but also gave Manchester United their first league title in four years. It also rendered their much-anticipated midweek encounter a meaningless and tame affair.

At one point Chelsea and Manchester United had the chance for an unprecedented "triple-header", with possible match-ups in the Champions' League Final, Premier League and FA Cup Final awaiting them in the same month. But with their defeat in the Champions' League semi-final, and the premature end to the title race in the Premier League, the FA Cup Final later this month has become the only significant match-up between them.

And hopefully it would be an explosive encounter, 'cos they owe us one.