Two minutes to go for Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle United… | OneFootball

I loved reading Simon Ritter’s article this (Sunday) morning on The Mag about Fergie Time.

It evoked so many great memories of how football used to be before Sky reinvented it in 1992.

We all know what Fergie Time is. And we all loathe it with a passion. So let’s just think about late goals in the games that played out on Friday evening and Saturday.

However, for this to work, you need to imagine that Newcastle United kicked off (against Forest) at the same time as Spurs (against Southampton) and Chelsea (against Everton).

And, that we are back in those halcyon days when BBC Radio 2 was more prominent than Jeff Stelling and games did finish, as Simon said, at 4:40pm.

You hopefully get my drift.

Take a look at an extract from the Premier league table as it would have been at 4:39pm:

Number of matches Played and PointsTottenham 28 51Man Utd 26 50Newcastle 26 45Liverpool 26 42Brighton 25 42Chelsea 27 40

I’ve included Chelsea even though they languish below their west London rivals Brentford and Fulham, because going into the weekend, I still thought they could be a threat to Newcastle United qualifying for the Champions League.

So, starting with Spurs, we’re six points adrift of them and although we’ve got two games in hand, they have the points in the bag.

We’re five adrift of Man Utd, who’ve played the same number of games and the showdown with them on 2 April is massive. Getting the gap down to two points is a must.

Liverpool are only three points behind and you just never know with them, as are Brighton but they’ve got a game in hand, which isn’t good, considering their recent form.

Finally, Chelsea. Five points adrift of us and although they’ve played a game more, it feels like their juggernaut has finally cranked into action.

Had enough of feeling miserable? Let’s move the time forward to 4:40pm.

Here’s the same extract from the table:

Number of matches Played and PointsMan Utd 26 50Tottenham 28 49Newcastle 26 47Liverpool 26 42Brighton 25 42Chelsea 27 38

What’s changed?

Isak has just scored that penalty at the Bridgford Road end and disappeared into the throng of Geordies going absolutely mental.

Ward-Prowse has just converted one as well, taking a swing with his imaginary golf club at St Mary’s.

Whilst an ex-Mackem loanee has just waltzed through the Chelsea defence to grab a late equaliser for Everton, his first ever Premier League goal.

The table looks so much better doesn’t it?

Suddenly, the gap to Spurs is two points. We’ve got two games in hand and we also play them at SJP next month. Game on!

Remember, we also have a far a superior goal difference, so beating Man Utd is still a must, but the incentive is that we will climb above them if we do so, with the gap between us now shrunk to three points.

Elsewhere, we’ve stretched our lead over Liverpool and Brighton to five points, the latter still with that game in hand but who will hopefully see their league form falter as they try and reach the FA Cup final.

As for Chelsea, their best bet for Champions League football next season now is to win the thing in Istanbul.

We need to carry our winning form into that match with Man Utd. Best them on 2 April and the table will look even better!