Last weekend, the Premier League leaders pulled apart.

In full view of the solemn atmosphere commemorating the Munich air disaster, Manchester United lost 1-2 to Manchester City at Old Trafford and lost the most undeserved battle; Chelsea then failed to capitalise on a home win over Liverpool and drew with a goalless draw; Arsenal are long overdue, beating Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at home on Monday to throw off five points from Manchester United and eight from Chelsea, with 12 games remaining in the season. If Arsenal show the momentum of winning the title unbeaten four years ago and win to the end, this round will be the beginning of this round as the first victory into the sprint straight.

There are signs that Arsenal are following in the footsteps of the past towards the Premier League throne.

Four years ago, Thierry Henry scored two goals to give Arsenal three points, and after 25 rounds, he has 61 points; Now, Arsenal are also 60 points after 25 rounds, and the one point they owe is due to exhaustion at the Riverside Stadium.

They also threw United five points away from Middlesbrough at home in the same round, and then lost to Portsmouth, Manchester City, Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers in quick succession, before failing to turn the tide with the same momentum as they did in 2002-03 and were eventually usurped by Chelsea.

In the 2003/04 season, Manchester United collided head-on with Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals, and the Reds eventually overtook Arsenal to lift the trophy, but the league title went to their opponents. Manchester United await Arsenal at Old Trafford this weekend for the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Manchester United had already been held to a draw by Tottenham at White Hart Lane, relinquishing the top spot. Another loss in this round not only widened the gap in points, but also lost monopoly in two other statistics: the goal difference advantage that had been flaunted was offset by goals from Senderos and Adebayo in this round. In terms of personal honors, Adebayor's last-minute effort to score his 19th league goal did not allow Cristiano Ronaldo to be a beauty, and as for the total number of goals, Arsenal had already led Manchester United in the last round of away defeats against Manchester City.

Manchester United vice-president Queiroz blamed fatigue for his team's slip in form, and it was not long ago that Arsene Wenger criticised the Reds for going to Saudi Arabia to pan for gold. To say that the latter will eventually pay for the hike is a proverb.

With key players absent from both sides, United were more affected: without Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra. Not only is the scene not dominant, but there are only a handful of good opportunities to score goals; Arsenal conceded only one goal in four games under the predicament of Toure, Eboue and other main players participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, and only one good central defender in Galla. Take a full 12 points. Manchester United's gains over the same period were slightly more than half of Arsenal's.

Liverpool dominated Stamford Bridge but the thunder did not rain, and any hope of beating Sunderland was dashed. 19 points behind the top of the table - one round less, and theoretically desperate.

The Reds lost to Fernando Torres before the tournament and the Spanish striker picked up an injury during his warm-up home to the national team, which made Liverpool's lack of scoring not improve in the slightest (seven goals in seven games). Captain Gerrard admonishes his teammates: It's better to aim for the top four! Chelsea have been at home for the remainder of the 'Final Four' fixture, but have failed to capitalise on United's two-game winless run. The winning streak that had been building up since the end of last year was ended by Portsmouth, who are still three points behind the second place. If you don't end up on the list, only 2 points in the last two rounds will be the root cause. The Premier League has developed from the balance of power in the top four at the beginning of the season to the top two at the end of the year, and now in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the shape of winning the championship is not yet clear, and April is the moment when the real son of destiny appears.

Chelsea have the toughest schedule of the three titles to look for in April: three derbies in five rounds, two of which are against Arsenal and Tottenham, but after the return of the likes of Didier Drogba and Essien from the Africa Cup of Nations, the Blues' back-to-back efforts should not be underestimated; Arsenal have had a tough run against Chelsea, as well as Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, who have been on a resurgence of form. Manchester United's title defending, in addition to hoping that Arsenal will drop points in front of two strong opponents, must ensure that they win Newcastle (away), Fulham (away), Bolton (home), Derby (away) and Liverpool (home).

This past weekend only outlined the general trend of winning the championship, and in the next month and a half, the championship will be clearly described.

After a week of work from top of the league table to five points behind the Gunners, the already heavy hearts of United fans at the commemoration of the plane crash have become even more painful.

For several years, Manchester United has not had much to do with their rivals Manchester City, and losing is commonplace. But this time the home team fell 1-2, and it was really lame on such a special occasion.

Conceding two goals in a row in the first half, United couldn't keep their spirits up after changing sides, and apart from Tevez's definite offside goal, they were always so far from goal. Carrick's late goal was meaningless, especially since many United fans had already left the pitch. It was a delight for the visitors, but it at least saved the unique game from booing at the end of the game, which was briefly discordant at half-time.

Ferguson left for South Africa immediately after the game to arrange next season's pre-season, leaving vice-boss Queiroz to face the media to make excuses, such as the international break that just ended. The media sarcastically said: "The best player on the pitch is Manchester City captain Dunn. He played the full 90 minutes in midweek against Ireland against Brazil, who seem to be a strong team. "So, was it the memorial crash that affected the team's mood? Manchester United will obviously deny that.

Or is it because Jonker isn't there? A common feature of United's four league defeats this season is that Jonker is all sidelined. Jonker was sidelined with injury in United's 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in the first leg and was suspended for his fifth win of the season in the previous round. But this reason is a bit cheap, after all, the heart of Manchester City's front line, Elano, also sits on the ball monitor.

Manchester City lost their unbeaten home run against Arsenal in the last round, and a draw between Manchester United and Tottenham gave the Gunners a two-point advantage. Manchester City then played against their rivals, not only helping Arsenal again, but also getting out of the trough of only one win in the previous eight rounds.

Manchester United were beaten twice by Manchester City this season, the first time since 1969-70 and the first time since 1974 that they lost a derby at home – the same defeat 34 years ago. It was an important reason why Manchester United were relegated to the second division.

It was undoubtedly Eriksen's most glorious victory since arriving in the Premier League. He has won just two away games before and now his triumph from Old Trafford has the Swede singing the "heavy setbacks" he has inflicted on Manchester United. If you add in his record of leading Lazio to a UEFA Super Cup win over Manchester United in 1999, he has won 100 per cent of his three meetings with the Red Devils so far.

Ai Shuai couldn't hide his pride. "You don't know who the title is until the end, you can only secure it in March or April, not now. However, they dropped six points on us and obviously dealt a blow to their hopes. Manchester City, from the victorious players to the silent fans, were impeccable in the game, so it was no wonder the visiting fans left the stadium singing: "We are perfect!" ”

Manchester City's 4141 formation just choked Manchester United's throat. Hamann in front of the defence interrupted the opponent's wave of attacks. Manchester United's Paul Scholes defensive task is on the heavy side, and the midfield lacks enough creativity; C. Ronaldo's form has dropped a lot, and his work and crosses are not good. He looked very annoyed and simply stomped on the turf to get angry.

In many ways, this game is somewhat similar to the game between the two teams half a year ago, and not only Dunn and Harman are rock-solid. New signing Benjani burst forward alone. It also caused Ferdinand a lot of trouble.

City's passing on the counter-attack was penetrating, as was Vassell's 25th-minute goal. Petrov's through ball hit just behind Vidic, Ireland's rush was blocked, and Vassell completed the task with two shots in quick succession. United's effective counter-attacks were limited, with Carlos Tevez whipping up a beautiful turning volley from outside the box but failing to stump the visitors' goalkeeper Hart. Before half-time, Manchester City were awarded three corners in a row, and Petrov didn't take good penalties each time. But a final clearance from United saw the Bulgarian deliver a deadly cross from the right and Brown denied Benjani. The latter shook his head and gave a generous gift to the new owner.

In the last 2 rounds, 1 draw and 1 loss, Giggs is worried about whether he will win all of them in the future, "I'm afraid we can't lose points again." There were too many players out of form today, probably related to the international break. But we had enough motivation for this game, it was a big game for the club and a derby. ”

But Ferguson's attitude this week has been much more relaxed: "There is still a long way to go, and now the title race is more interesting. At the end of the day, the gap between the teams will be very small, which is something that neutral fans like. We know what we have at hand, Arsenal have to visit Old Trafford and Chelsea have a trip to them. ”

A losing game, but with countless warm scenes, does not belong to Manchester United, but to the whole of Manchester!

73,000 Manchester United fans held up red and white scarves, and 3,000 Manchester City fans held up blue and white scarves for one minute of silence in memory of the Munich air disaster that struck Manchester United on 6 February 1958. The Old Trafford broadcaster said that at this moment, Manchester is a "city of unity".

The 50th anniversary of the crash was the theme of Manchester United's past week. On the 6th, coinciding with the friendly match between England and Switzerland, the FA held a commemorative event inside and outside Wembley Stadium, and some Manchester United fans spontaneously came to the airport of the plane crash 50 years ago. The Old Trafford commemoration was presided over by Manchester United's chaplain surrounded by hymns, and a long-standing exhibition commemorating Baby Busby was set up on the wall of the stadium's south opening, which was renamed the Munich Pass.

At 3:04 p.m., Manchester United captain Gary. Neville lit 23 candles – 50 years ago when a plane full of Manchester United soldiers failed in its third attempt to take off, killing eight Busby babies and 15 other passengers, including club officials, fans and journalists. Half a century on, four of the surviving players have died, including Bobby. Only five of Sir Charlton's men are alive.

On the 10th, Manchester United's home match against Manchester City brought the commemoration to a climax. Manchester United players wore 1958-style shirts with no commercial logos and player names and numbers from 1 to 11, while Manchester City also prepared a special edition shirt. However, the 23 caddies who followed the players from both sides were still wearing United's current shirts, with the names of the 23 victims permed on the backs of the shirts.

There had been fears that a few low-profile Manchester City fans might deliberately cause trouble during the pre-match silence, but that fear proved unwarranted, with Old Trafford keeping their composure in the first minute.

Previously, Manchester City had reminded their fans. Among those killed was Swift, a former Manchester City goalkeeper who was on the team as a reporter for the News of the World at the time. Manchester United CEO Gil also spoke to Manchester City fans about the friendship between the two companies: it was Manchester City who lent the stadium to Manchester United after Old Trafford was bombed in World War II.

Sadly, the bad things still happened. First of all. During the pre-match ceremony at Wembley on the 6th, some England fans whistled and made noise, and the silence had to be shortened from 1 minute to 20 seconds. Looking at the solemn scene before the friendly matches of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales and the cooperation of the Swiss fans, the appearance of individual "Three Lions" fans is embarrassing. Secondly, although the fans in the stadium were very reasonable during the moment of silence at Old Trafford, there was an inexplicable sound of firecrackers outside the stadium.

And that's not all. During the match on the 10th, Manchester United handed out a copy of the scarf and the Spectator's Guide to the first game after the crash (FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday on 19 February 1958) to fans for free. Unexpectedly. These two items were on eBay within hours of the final whistle!

Many Manchester United fans were furious, and some tried to buy them out of pocket. The person who made the 9999999 pound offer was not serious, but there was indeed a seller who actually made 5,000 pounds. And said with a heartfelt speech: "The scarf was sent to me, and I can do whatever I want." However, there are also many sellers who took the initiative to retreat after seeing the public opinion environment, and more than 70 commodities were quickly reduced to single digits.

Soon. eBay announced that it would delete the memorabilia. A spokesman for the website stressed that "profiting from a human tragedy" is despicable.

British European Airlines flight 609, this is an eternal pain in Sir Busby's heart.

Manchester United before the Munich crash were on their way back from a 3-3 draw at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League (5-4 on aggregate). Manchester United, who had already won two consecutive domestic league titles, had reached the semi-finals of the previous year's European competition, but were knocked out by eventual champions Real Madrid.

Coach Busby watched as he led the Red Star by three goals, only to be conceded three goals in a row, and he was already thinking about the game against league leaders Wolves in 48 hours. United were four points adrift at the top of the table and Busby was keen to challenge Chapman's record of three consecutive titles at Huddersfield Town and Arsenal.

European Airlines' twin-engine Elizabeth does not have the capacity to complete a 1,179-mile non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester. Had to refuel in Munich. In the course of the flight, there was no ominous call-up. The players chatted and some smoked leisurely, while the area where the 11 journalists sat erupted in laughter.

While waiting at Munich Airport, some of the players happily had a snowball fight, a snowstorm that set the conditions for them.

At around 2:30 p.m. on February 6, 1958, passengers began to return to the cabin one after another to prepare for takeoff. Not everyone likes the feeling of the moment the plane takes off. Talented youngster Duncan. Edwards was interested in flying, and when he had nothing to do, he would sit in the bar next to the airport and watch the planes take off and land, but he was always a little nervous when it came time to take off.

Bobby. Charlton is still young, new to the team, but has already had a few experiences aboard the Elizabeth. He had long since discovered that the older aircraft were noisier to take off than the advanced models and taxied on the runway longer.

During this takeoff, the pilot noticed an abnormality in the pressure pointer, which was a symptom of engine failure. After the failure of the first take-off, the second take-off of the control tower was instructed, but it was still unsuccessful. The captain informed the passengers of the "mechanical failure", and everyone had to go to the airport café and shop again to pass the time.

The players began to discuss a possible overnight stay in Munich tonight, and Edwards sent a telegram to his landlord: "All flights cancelled, stop, take off tomorrow, stop - Duncan." "What he meant by this will always be a mystery.

They didn't stay in Munich, engineer Blake had built one of the captains of Raymond, and an overnight overhaul could be sure nothing went wrong. But Raymond believes that the starboard engine is working fine and can take off.

As a result, the announcement quickly informed the passengers to board the plane again. Some players don't understand what they can solve in such a short period of time. But there were also those who were anxious to take off, and Clark, a reporter for the Manchester Chronicle, had just taken advantage of the maintenance time to dictate a piece of writing to the newspaper by phone about the delay. So, many people in Manchester that night thought that the plane was just late.

The capriciousness of flights can always be frustrating, and on the third take-off, as the plane was already heading towards the runway, left winger Peg suddenly unbuckled his seat belt and sprinted to the rear of the cabin to sit with his friends. It was a decision that cost him his life.

At 3:03, the crew asked the control tower for the last time to take off. Soon, the hands showed that the plane had accelerated to 117 knots, a speed at which it was impossible to give up takeoff. However, the hands suddenly dropped to 112 knots and 105 knots...... Gregor, the goalkeeper, opened the window and saw the plane passing by a large tree and a house a stone's throw away. Everyone realizes that something is wrong, something big. There was a dead silence in the cabin, and the right winger, Berry, suddenly yelled: "We don't fucking want to die here!" Whelan, a devout Catholic and insider, prayed in a whisper: "If this is death, I'm ready." ”

These were the last words of Whelan's life, the plane broke through the fence on the side of the road and crashed into a house, the wings and tail were broken, but the fuselage continued to rush forward a hundred yards, and the starboard side crashed into a house where fuel was stored, and finally came to a stop on a snowy field.

The surviving captain, Tyne, fears that a further explosion may occur, and urges those who can move to stay away from the airframe as much as possible. But Greg and Daily Mail reporter Peter. Howard heroically rushes back to the wreckage of the plane, looking for others who are not dead. Greg dragged passenger Lukic, carried her to safety, and then returned to the cabin to rescue her injured mother. However, the rescue operation of Greg and the others was limited to the front of the cabin, and the raging fire in the rear cabin meant that everyone there was finished.

Seven United players were killed at the scene, along with eight journalists, three United staff, one crew member and two other passengers. Edwards and Raymond were later hospitalized in Munich without medical treatment. Berry and midfielder Blanche Flower were forced to leave football for good due to injuries.

In an era of less information, many fans in Manchester gathered at two local newspapers the day after the crash, anxiously awaiting the latest news. Even those who don't like football will find resonance with the letters from readers in the newspapers: "As an outsider, as a non-football fan, after witnessing and feeling such a terrible tragedy, I can realise how deeply the city feels and admires Manchester United." Last night in the theater, no matter how interesting the performance was, there was very little laughter from the audience. There's only one heaviness, one anxiety, and everybody is. ”

It was 13 years after World War II. The hatred of the British towards the Germans was still very strong, and they still considered the Germans "not good people". When Busby later saw a newspaper picture of himself wearing an oxygen mask and accompanying a German nurse, it was hard to imagine how he felt when he was 6 years old, when his father was killed by a German sniper at the hands of a German sniper at the Battle of the Somme. And now, it is the Germans, who are doing their best to save his life.

February 8, the third day after the crash, was supposed to be the weekend's race day. But on this day, even if Manchester United and Wolves win the championship, football will have to be sidelined by human tragedy. Manchester's working-class people are accustomed to going to work on Saturday mornings, going to pubs with friends at noon and then heading straight to Old Trafford. But on this day, they could only gather outside the stadium in confusion, at a loss as to what to do.

The impact of the crash on Manchester United is self-evident. From 1960 to 1963, they were ranked 7th, 7th, 15th and 19th in the league. Despite battling relegation, they still won the FA Cup in 1963. After recovering, Busby never mentions the plane crash, but every qiē is written in his eyes. Busby doesn't like to be called "Busby Baby" to his children, which he thinks has a childish connotation, but in fact, his team is far more mature than its average age of 22. After 10 years of lying on the bed, Busby led another group of his children to the top of Europe. He is reluctant to explain the trophy in terms of "Heroic Blessing", believing that Manchester United have achieved because they are the best Manchester United people. (To be continued......)