Has Manuel Almunia's Blunder Cost Arsenal Their Shot at the League Title?

Yesterday's 1-1 draw at Birmingham was a massive blow to our title hopes. It doesn't quite end them, but it does greatly reduce our chances of winning the title.

The point was made to me afterwards that both Chelsea and "Manure" had drawn there as well and in that context it wasn't a bad result.

However, as we lost at home and away to both of those teams, we need to make that ground up elsewhere, and Birmingham was an ideal place to do that.

First of all, the team selection surprised me a little with both Walcott and Rosicky starting and Nasri and Arshavin on the bench.

Song started at centre back alongside Campbell, which I was delighted with, and there was no place on the bench for Silvestre.

I don't know if he has a knock, but if he doesn't, it surely means the manager has lost all confidence in him. 

The game itself wasn't exactly a classic, and the first half in particular was a drab enough affair.

Our best chance fell to Walcott, but the keeper was out quickly to block his effort, and I didn't think he would score anyway as he seemed to lack conviction.

As per usual, the first yellow card went to Song, when he made his first foul of the game, and I wouldn't argue with it except to say that at least four or five Birmingham players made fouls that were just as bad, but they only got a ticking off from the referee.

However, Clichy's yellow card was a joke, as there was nothing he could do about a Birmingham player who put the ball past him and jumped into him looking for a free.

We were also treated to the sight of an awful "challenge" on Cesc that took him out just below the knee but that the referee decided was a fair tackle.

The player may have got the ball, but his follow-through could have done some serious damage to our captain. 

As long as referees see these type of tackles as fair we will continue to suffer at the hands of teams who commit them.

When the second half started, Arsenal started to get on top despite playing on a very poor pitch.

I thought both Rosicky and Diaby were playing very well, but Cesc was a little off the pace after his knock and probably should have gone off.

I wasn't impressed with either Walcott or Bendtner, but with Eduardo as our only centre forward on the bench and the mindless idiots in the crowd singing Martin Johnson's name, it was probably better that he stayed on the bench.

With just over 20 minutes to go, Nasri and Arshavin were introduced, and Arsenal really started to turn the screw.

Birmingham tired, as all the work they had put in to stop us playing started to show and we pushed harder and harder for what we hoped would be a winning goal.

Birmingham did almost snatch a goal when they hit the post from a set piece and somehow managed to put the rebound over the bar, but besides that the second half belonged to Arsenal in the main.

Nasri was making a real impact, and I thought we got the goal with just over 10 minutes left when Diaby finished well into the corner.

However, the referee disallowed it for what he saw as a foul in the build up, but it seemed very harsh to me.

We didn't have to wait too long after that for the goal as Clichy headed a long clearance from a corner to Nasri, who cut inside from the touchline and struck a sweet shot into the corner of the net from well outside the box.

The Arsenal fans celebrated as if they had won the league, and the pattern of the game changed instantly as Birmingham looked to push forward and we looked for a second goal on the break.

We had a few gilt-edged chances, but Arshavin and Nasri failed to capitalize on them and as injury time approached, I was feeling a little nervous.

Besides the chances we missed, I was also a little curious about the foul by Carr on Arshavin, as he was in the process of swinging his leg to lob a keeper who was off his line.

Carr jumped on his back to prevent the lob, but what I would like to know is was it a goalscoring opportunity that Carr was preventing?

The rule doesn't state that he has to be the last man back but just that he has to prevent a goalscoring opportunity, and surely a player in the process of shooting with the keeper off his line has such an opportunity.

As injury time ticked by, the Birmingham keeper kicked a long ball forward and it was knocked into our box with a Birmingham player looking a mile offside.

As Sagna cleared the ball, it rebounded off substitute Phillips' chest and went towards the goal. Almunia managed to get both hands to the ball but he could only parry it up in the air and it looped backwards and into our net.

It was an absolute hammer blow to the players and fans alike, and the game was over moments after we kicked off and despite the draw, it felt like a loss. 

With both Chelsea and "Manure" laying down markers yesterday by gaining big wins we now find ourselves in a game of catch up on both of them.

At one stage it looked like we might score 100 league goals this season but we are now behind both of those clubs in terms of goals scored and indeed Chelsea only needs 18 goals in their last six games to achieve that feat after scoring 12 goals in four days.

The early game next Saturday is "Manure" against Chelsea and we play at home against the Wolves just after that game ends.

We will know where we stand before our game starts and I suppose a draw is the best result for us as a win for either of them would leave us at least three points off the top with five games left and a vastly inferior goal difference.

If we had got the result we needed yesterday a draw between the two of them would have seen us go level at the top if we beat the Wolves next Saturday but sadly that didn't happen.

It's probably just as well I didn't write this blog straight after the game, as with a few beers on me, I was absolutely livid with Almunia for his inability to keep the ball out of the net and I had a few choice things to say about him on Twitter.

From here we go to Barcelona at home on Wednesday night and the players have to lift themselves up after yesterday's result.

Hopefully, Cesc will be available, but he is a doubt at the moment after the knock he took yesterday. That's it for today, and I'll deal with the aftermath of our result tomorrow.

Here 's the highlights from yesterday. 

See You Tomorrow.