Jose Mourinho admitted that Chelsea had been on the brink of surrendering their Premiership title on Saturday after he was forced to wait until the 93rd minute before Salomon Kalou grabbed the winner at bottom side Watford.
Just as it seemed that Watford had done enough to earn a draw that would have allowed Manchester United to stretch their lead at the top to eight points, the Dutch striker drifted into the box to meet Andriy Shevchenko's cross and head the ball past United's on-loan goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Afterwards, Mourinho admitted that the title race would have been effectively over if Kalou had not taken his chance to ensure that the champions matched United's win over Blackburn earlier in the day. "Mathematically we could still win because there are still 21 points in the game, but if you go to eight behind it is much more difficult," Mourinho said.
"It was a crucial goal and a crucial victory." Six points clear with seven matches to play, United remain firmly in the driving seat. But the last-gasp nature of Chelsea's win will only strengthen the champions' belief that they can close the gap.
United had to come from behind to beat Blackburn 4-1, but once they hit their stride they were irresistible. A Matt Derbyshire strike had given Blackburn a half-time lead.
But after a superb solo equaliser from Paul Scholes just after the hour, goals from Michael Carrick, Park Ji-Sung and substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ensured an ultimately comfortable win.
Ferguson claimed his side had shown that they deserve to reclaim the title. "You would expect a championship team to show that kind of nerve, determination, drive and resolve," he said. "We had all that. Everything you are looking for in a football team was there."
Ferguson was left with a potentially major headache however. Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic had to be stretchered off with a shoulder injury that will keep him out of action for up to five weeks, potentially upsetting the defensive solidity on which United's challenge for league, cup and Champions League silverware has been based.
Elsewhere on Saturday, a classic hat-trick by Peter Crouch helped Liverpool crush Arsenal 4-1 at Anfield and leapfrog their London rivals into third place in the table. The giant England striker scored well-taken goals with both feet either side of a powerful header as the Gunners surrendered tamely at Anfield.
Danish centreback Daniel Agger was also on the scoreline for Liverpool with William Gallas finding the net for the visitors. Arsenal's defeat offered Bolton fresh hope that they could yet claim fourth spot in the table and a place in the final qualifying round for next season's Champions League.
Kevin Davies scored ten minutes from time to earn Sam Allardyce's side a 1-0 win over Sheffield Utd, who ended the afternoon just one point above the relegation zone. Charlton's battle for survival continued to gather momentum with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Wigan that came courtesy of an 86th-minute penalty from England striker Darren Bent.
Alan Pardew's side are now unbeaten in four games and look capable of overhauling both Sheffield United and Wigan. Manchester City's fears of being dragged into the relegation battle were eased by a 1-0 win at Newcastle.
Belgium striker Emile Mpenza scored the goal that allowed Stuart Pearce's side to maintain a six-point cushion between them and the bottom three. West Ham's faint hopes of avoiding relegation were given a shot in the arm with a 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough, although Alan Curbishley's side remain five points adrift of safety.
Argentina forward Carlos Tevez was the Hammers' hero once more, setting up Bobby Zamora for a second-minute opener before making the win safe by hitting the net himself just before half-time.
Portsmouth's push for European football suffered a setback when Ian Pearce snatched a last-minute equaliser for Fulham after Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar had given the visitors the lead at Craven Cottage.
