Oliver Kay in the Times:
‘To judge from the delirious post-match scenes at Ewood Park last night, Chelsea must believe that the Barclays Premiership title will soon be within their grasp. At the final whistle, an animated José Mourinho seemed to instruct his players to strip off and throw their shirts to the travelling supporters, while hugs and embraces abounded. It looked for all the world like a championship celebration for a club that has not achieved the feat for 50 years.’
James Lawton in the Independent certainly doesn’t believe it is all over just yet,
‘The Champions are dead, long live Chelsea. Yes, this is the logic of Arsenal's collapse for a second raw and ugly time before the superior will of Manchester United and some bookmakers are already paying out on the triumph of Jose Mourinho's relentless squad.
‘But some people never learn. They were paying out on Arsenal two years ago. They forgot that football can be as unchartable as a gust of wind. Most negligently, they forgot about Sir Alex Ferguson's incapacity to accept there are times when he and his team should settle for being second best.
‘That indeed may prove to be their fate this season but the smarter bookies will surely hang on to their money for a little while yet. One thing is certain now. If Chelsea do stumble, if a driving force like Frank Lampard or the anchor John Terry should be injured, if some passing conspiracies of fate trigger an ambush or two, they will not have to look around to see who is at their shoulder. After the moral slaughter of Arsenal at Highbury this week it will surely be Manchester United.
‘That's right: moral slaughter. The reigning champions, who so recently brought such delight to the hearts of all football lovers with the subtle brilliance of their play, were not merely beaten again by their most bitter rivals. They were taken apart at every level; physically, psychologically and, in the end, creatively.
‘Given the state of play at the top of the Premiership, it is quite likely that none of this will translate into one of the greatest comebacks in the history of football. Ferguson knew this as well as anybody when he stood so proudly at the Highbury touchline when the final whistle was blown. What he was celebrating was not the possibilities of the future but the reality of that moment. It was that he had a team filled again with both hunger and self-belief.
‘For Jose Mourinho this might be a little worry. For Arsène Wenger it was cause only for despair.’