MARTIN Taylor’s raised foot could turn out to be one of the defining moments in this season’s Premier League title race.
When Taylor inflicted that horrific injury on Eduardo Da Silva on Saturday afternoon, he might well have done as much damage to Arsenal’s title bid as he did to Eduardo’s left leg.
We might never know, but I doubt that Arsenal would have drawn with struggling Birmingham if it wasn’t for that incident so early in the game. Arsenal’s players were visibly disturbed by it all and it seemed to knock them out of their stride.
Manchester United then took advantage of the slip to cut the gap at the top of the table to just three points and inject some fresh momentum into a title challenge that looked to be faltering when they were put to the sword by Manchester City a fortnight ago.
Such are the consistency levels of the top teams, even drawing away from home is considered to be a disappointing result.
Arsenal have also been robbed off a front-line striker with no chance of bringing in replacements from outside. That could well cost the Gunners in the gruelling run-in.
Of course, the incident could galvanise Arsene Wenger’s men and make them doubly determined to lift the title. However, I suspect Manchester United will fancy their chances of retaining their crown after this weekend’s events. Especially when you consider that United host Arsenal at Old Trafford in a crunch game in April.
As for Taylor, there is no doubt he should be punished for his tackle. He probably didn’t intend to inflict such horrific damage on Eduardo, but he went in with his studs raised and has possibly robbed one man of his career.
That in itself should warrant a ban until the end of the season.