I'll try to keep this factual

A few days have passed since the incident but I can't make a post without mentioning Señor Benitez and his comments made just before an important weekend. Clearly he has had this planned for a while now and he must have spent Friday night feeling delighted with himself and the pressure he had put us under.

What he somehow didn't realise was that we are the one team who thrive under this sort of attention. The siege mentality that Ferguson often builds on a title run in has largely been done for him, so thanks very much for that. Perhaps you were just ingratiating yourself to your own fans and attempting to manoeuvre that new contract that you're desperate for but so far isn't forthcoming. Perhaps if you actually manage to maintain a league challenge this year, you'll get that offer. If you fall away again, perhaps you'd be better off looking elsewhere for employment, lest you give the rest of the league hope once more.

The following day, Liverpool turned in one of their most spineless performances of the season and left the Britannia Stadium with a point. Job half done, Rafa.

Roll on match day and a midday phone call offering me a ticket to the game. Sadly, four hours just wouldn't have been possible I don't think, so I had to turn it down with great regret. Not long after I was tucking into some of Strongbow's finest in an attempt to dull the nerves a little. It didn't really help, especially when the team sheet was released.

I will happily admit that I was once again furious with a team that Ferguson picked. After claiming that Carrick was such a massively important player, he leaves our most inform midfielder on the bench. Clearly Chelsea would have prepared to play against Carrick, so as time would tell, Ferguson got his mind game of the weekend right. Take note from the master, Merseyside.

Rio Ferdinand is a massive loss, as to me he is probably the best centre-back in world football at present. His pace, his vision and his ability to link defence and midfield are all exemplar. However, Jonny Evans has been playing excellently and he stepped once more unto the breech and we didn't miss Rio at all. That's probably the biggest compliment I can give and it isn't slightly overstated for this game.

Ryan Giggs was excellent, he controlled the midfield with Fletcher doing the dirty stuff alongside him and, especially in the second half, Chelsea couldn't match his guile. Ji-Sung Park must take mention again as he did in my last post. Fergie must run him on Duracell, he gave Cole a torrid time, keeping him forced back for large periods of the game with another tireless display.

Even Berbatov seemed to come alive in the second half, with some good touches, great teamwork with Vidic for his goal and he even seemed happy to score. What's that all about?

Ronaldo was in great form in the second half, too. Probably his best performance this season and hopefully he can build on that. The newly crowded World Player of the Year is saying all the right things at present and hopefully it can translate itself onto the park.

To go back to the pre-weekend comments, was Benitez proven right? Do referees favour us? My favourite Liverpool site's (yep, I read RAWK and make no apology for that, it's nice to see how the other end of the East Lancs are thinking) general consensus is that once again they did indeed give us everything, as outlined by Rooney's constant mouthing off. As it happens, I agree with that. He should have been booked. Of course, this is roughly where their attention span ends. This is all the evidence needed, apparently.

This is ignoring a few things:

Ronaldo held down in the box by Carvalho – no penalty, Ronaldo booked for arguing with Carvalho when it was the defender who raised his hands to Ronaldo's chest. Now, I am not asking for a sending off, it was a nothing push, but by the rules, it was a red

Ashley Cole handles on the line – no penalty

We score from that corner – goal disallowed

Ronaldo breaks free and scores in second half – ruled offside incorrectly, goal disallowed

Drogba's constant diving – allowed to go on all game, no booking

No, wait... Forget all that. Rooney swore a few times. Haul him across the hot coals.

Moving on, we are five points behind with two games in hand. We have to get two wins this week to really hammer home the advantage. Not because Liverpool and Chelsea (why is everyone writing Chelsea off?) won't drop points from here on in, but because going top will give us a lift and demoralise both rivals. Knowing the lead they had and throwing it away so early will add to the current pressure (self-inflicted in some cases) on Liverpool and Chelsea.

Hopefully my next post will be made with us one point clear.