The Answerman, Soccer 365’s Football journalist Jerrad Peters, takes questions on Chelsea's push for a title and gives his nod for the most disappointing team in Europe this season.

Does the result at Stamford Bridge revitalize the title race?

Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Manchester United, however fortunate, has the pair of Premier League frontrunners in a dead heat with two matches remaining. And given the post-match brouhaha between several United players and the Stamford Bridge grounds crew, the pressure would seem to have clearly got to the Red Devils.

Of course, the manner of the defeat did nothing to assuage the visitors’ frustration. The 86th-minute penalty – awarded when Michael Carrick was assessed to have handled the ball in the area – was clearly incorrect. That said, United have been more the beneficiaries of officiating than victims of it for much of the current campaign. So blaming the referee or linesman for the loss is a bit rich. Chelsea were deserved winners. And their performance, however bland and uninspiring, has turned the tide of momentum and vaulted them back into the title race.

Pity, because United should have had the trophy under wraps for a fortnight by now. But draws against Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers on either side of a nervous win at home to Arsenal allowed Chelsea to narrow the gap. Which they did, by virtue of a typically cagey 1-0 win at Everton, last Thursday.

With two matches remaining on the fixture programme, the Blues still require another United slip in order to lift their third Premier League championship in four seasons. Don’t bet against it. Since blazing through March with six consecutive victories and outscoring their opponents a combined 18-1, the Red Devils have fallen back to earth. Fallen with a thud.

In winning just two of their past six matches, United have appeared but a shell of their former selves. They were dire at Barcelona – despite numerous attempts to spin the 0-0 draw as a gutsy, well-earned result. And they simply did not show up at Ewood Park the preceding weekend.

Still, there’s a reason why pundits, commentators, and fans are not lining up to congratulate Chelsea on pulling level with the champions. It’s quite simple, really. Chelsea play rubbish football. They have a cast of characters – most notably Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba – who are anything but loved in the football world at large. And they operate with a transfer philosophy that is impossible to respect.

If they happen to win the title against Bolton Wanderers on May 11, they will go atop the table for the first time this season. In each of the other 37 match-weeks, nobody cared enough to whisper a single, kind word about them.

Which has been the most disappointing team in Europe this season?

Where to begin? A quick glance at the tables reveals at least two clubs in each of Europe’s top leagues which either substantially underachieved or downright embarrassed themselves this season.

Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle failed to live up to their own, pre-season self-promotion in the English Premier League. And one of Paris Saint-Germain and Lens will be relegated in less than a month. Of course, PSG have been flirting with the drop for several years now; so their demise is hardly surprising.

In Germany, defending champions Stuttgart only cranked it into gear after Christmas while highly-touted and talented Borussia Dortmund are destined for a bottom-half finish. Similarly, Lazio will struggle to crack the top-10 in Serie A. And AC Milan have been the picture of inconsistency since September.

Barcelona may be a huge disappointment in Spain. But even a probable third-place finish by the Catalan giants is far better than the performances of both Valencia and Real Zaragoza in La Liga.

By definition, however, Europe’s most disappointing team in 2007-2008 was Ajax. The Dutch giants, four years and counting without an Eredivisie title, are in the midst of their most barren stretch since the late 1980s. And while they have stagnated, rivals PSV Eindhoven have won four championships on the bounce. With seven league crowns since the turn of the century, this decade already belongs to the Rood-witten. For a club which fancies itself the Sons of the Gods, such a record is unacceptable.

Having said that, it’s not as though Ajax have lacked chances to turn things around. After losing the title by a goal-differential inferiority of 50-49 last season, they came within a whisper again this term. It’s a perusal of the squad, however, which leaves one scratching his head.

It is conceivable that the Klaas-Jan Huntelaar era will come to an end without a championship. After back-to-back seasons of at least 36-goals, a move to England or Germany is more than likely. And as he is 24-years-of-age, Ajax will almost certainly cash in on his considerable value. Uruguay international striker Luiz Suarez, just 21-years-old, may opt for an exit as well. A deep-lying, play-making attacker who works wonderfully in tandem with a striker such as Huntelaar, there are previous few players of his pedigree available on the transfer market at the moment.

Pound for pound, the Ajax lineup was far and away the best and brightest in Holland in each of the past two seasons. But in being edged out of the title race in each instance, supporters of the great club will be left to wonder what might have been. A summer rebuilding project is on the horizon. And there is nothing to suggest the drought will end before a fifth campaign is tossed on the scrap heap.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters is a football journalist based in Winnipeg, Canada and a correspondent for Soccer365.com. His weekly column for the Winnipeg Free Press is the largest of its kind in the country. A regular contributor to ESPN Soccernet, his work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.