Monday, April 28 2008 -- By this time last season the Premiership title was all done and dusted with Manchester United celebrating in full rhythm. This season things are considerably different as they are finely poised on a balance held together by a thread.

It was Week 36 this weekend in the Premiership and all the battles in the different regions grew more intricate. Let's come to the championship chase first and the season is curtaining down dramatically for both Man United and Chelsea. The top two confronted each other on Saturday in the lunchtime kickoff at Stamford Bridge with United leading the London Blues by 3 points. But that advantage has now been slimmed down to just goal difference as Avram Grant's team won the titan clash 2-1.

Michael Ballack gave Chelsea the lead in the first half but the Red Devils equalized through Wayne Rooney in the second. Chelsea had the last laugh though when 5 minutes before the end though Ballack stepped up to slot home a penalty after Michael Carrick was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his own penalty area. Man United and Chelsea are now locked on 81 points with Sir Alex Ferguson's men possessing a superior goal difference and should they win their remaining two matches in the Premiership, they would drape the league trophy with their colours.

No such complicacy for Arsenal and Liverpool though. The Gunners actually play already relegated Derby County on Monday and a win, which would be the lest you can expect against a side that has mustered just 11 points all season, would guarantee the Gunners of third place finish in the league. Liverpool assured themselves of the fourth spot in spite of being held to a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City on Saturday,

Which nicely bring us to the relegation battle, which is perhaps more enticing than the title race. Derby, as we know, are already relegated but any two of the six sides immediately above them could join them in the Championship next season. The favourites are Fulham and Birmingham.

Both played on Saturday and while the Midlands club stole a point from their match at home to Liverpool, Fulham exhibited marvelous resilience and uncharacteristic spirit to stage a stupendous comeback against Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium City were two goals up with just 20 minutes left on the clock when Fulham dug themselves out of the hole and scored thrice. Birmingham remain 18th in the table with 32 points while Fulham are 19th 2 points behind them.

Both Bolton Wanderers and Reading collected one point apiece from their respective matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Athletic. While Gary Megson's Bolton stole a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane, Steve Coppell's Reading played out a 0-0 stalemate with fellow relegation threatened side Wigan at the JJB stadium. This implies that the Royals sustain their 1 point advantage over Birmingham in 17th, Bolton remain 2 places and 1 point above Birmingham while Wigan climb upto 14th, 5 points clear of the drop.

Sandwiched between Wigan and Bolton in 15th are Middlesbrough whose manager Gareth Southgate must once again be haunted by relegation fears. Boro went on a trip to the Stadium of Light on Saturday to confront Sunderland but for Southgate and his brigade there was only darkness. Roy Keane's Black Cats secured their Premiership status by beating Boro 3-2 and are now 13th in the table.

Middlesbrough remain on 36 points, just 4 above safety with just 2 more rounds of matches to go this season. In the other match on Saturday, West Ham United and Newcastle United played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Upton Park. Both sides hover in the mid-table region.

Onto Sunday's matches then and onto the race to finish fifth and bag a UEFA Cup berth for next season. Portsmouth blew their slim chances of qualifying for Europe's second tier club competition via the league by sinking down 1-0 to Blackburn Rovers at Fratton Park, Rocky Santa Cruz scoring his 17th league goal of the season for Blackburn. The result means that Pompey are 7th in the league standings while Blackburn are now 8th, 2 points behind them.

In the other match on Sunday, it was on as evens as Everton and Aston Villa shared the spoils in an enthralling 4-goal thriller. Everton took the lead early in the second half through a deflected goal from Phil Neville (surprise! surprise!) but conceded to Villa soon afterwards when Gabriel Aqbonlahor equalized.

With just 6 minutes remaining, Everton took the lead again, this time their central defender Joseph Yobo sweetly volleying the ball home. But the Toffees failed to cling onto their lead for more than a minute as a Gareth Barry cross from the left was headed home by Aqbonlahor. Everton now have 62 points from 36 matches and are fifth while Aston Villa are 3 points behind them in 6th. Which puts Everton is the driving seat to qualify for the UEFA Cup via the league.