It's all over now, baby blue...

Goal! Hand! Whistle! Cheat! Thief! Scandal! Robbery! Disgusting! Replay! Fair play! Legacy! Embarrassed! Mortified! Ashamed! Tainted! Over?

Yes, it's over. The cliché-ridden aftermath has been inevitable but necessary. It has been a bitter blow. The reaction has been a mixture of anger and anxiety - played out like a scene from a school-yard kick-a-bout. Henry's blatant handling of the ball at the far stick was comical, as was Martin Hanssen's (and his linesman's) inability to see it. Shay Given raced to the ref, furiously thumping his arm, valiantly attempting to persuade Hanssen to discount the goal. The rest of the Irish players followed, wildly gesturing with their hands. But the decision had been made. Henry had got away with it. And just like in school, Ireland couldn't answer back. They knew they'd been wronged. This had been an injustice. They'd seen it with their own eyes. But this was it. The game was over and it wasn't fair. Tears followed, eyes furrowed into the lights of the Parisian night. There was nowhere to go. Except to the mixed zone and to go public with the anger and anxiety. Lots of words, lots of bytes. But just a moral victory. Just.

There have been calls for the game to be replayed. Calls for the French Football Federation to 'do the right thing'. Lots of words. This won't happen but it makes us feel better, doesn't it? It makes us feel better that the whole world is on our side, that we're right to feel the way we do. It helps with the anxiety - that situation whereby we have so much to say and too little time. It's like being present at a funeral of a dear friend - 'It's okay, we know what you're going through. It's all going to be alright'. It reassures us. We are the good guys. We are the 'real' winners.

But, what is winning? Is it succeeding at any cost, a ruthless victory? Experts and analysts everywhere constantly talk about the great teams doing what it takes to win. Going that extra inch. Thierry Henry went that extra inch. Yes, it was an illegal act and a damning indictment of the current status of professional sport. But, he got away with it. In the same situation, would the FAI agree to a replay? No. Why would they? The mistake wasn't Henry's. Retrospectively perhaps, he feels he made a mistake because of what's followed. But not in the moment. In the moment, he instinctively used his hand to set up a goal for a team-mate. And they won the game. In similar situations, it's said that players should put pressure on referees to make decisions on the spot - particularly in relation to penalty kicks. On Wednesday night, Henry put pressure on the officials to make a call. And they got it wrong - the mistake was simple human error. And at least two of the match officials must take responsibility for that. There should be FIFA sanctioning and an apology should be given to the Irish team, management and to the country at large. The governing body have kept sheepishly and unashamedly quiet since the incident and this behaviour is both outrageous and unacceptable.

Sport, like everything else, is a reflection of society so should people be so surprised that cheating, robbing, lying, etc exist in a sporting environment? This has long since been a Darwinist world where we do anything to get ahead. Politics, justice, health, arts, entertainment, you name - when you reach the top, you've normally left many dead bodies in your wake. What if an Irish player 'cheated' to score the winning goal last Wednesday night? Would we be bowing our heads in mass embarrassment, as the French would like to have us believe they're doing? I think many Irish supporters would like to think they'd take the moral high-ground. Honestly, I think we'd behave exactly as our continental counter-parts - mortified, but relieved and thankful we're heading to the World Cup. Is that immoral? No. It's just natural.

Do Ireland need a miracle?

In a word, yes. Last Saturday's result was a sickening one for Ireland to swallow but, was always likely to happen with the way the side was set up. With Lawrence and Duff both in wide positions, the impetus was handed to the French full-backs to get up and support Henry and Anelka at every available opportunity. Sagna did most of the counter-attacking throughout the opening half before Evra realised that Lawrence's sole purpose on the pitch was to prevent the United full-back from getting forward - Lawrence never even attempted to take on Evra and was happy to stay on the half-way line for the majority of the game. Clearly he was under strict instructions but I don't think it would've been too much to ask for McGeady to have been handed a start in the home fixture. Granted, the Celtic wide-man has been patchy for his international side but, he has the ability to get past his man and deliver a decent ball into the box. He also has the ace up his sleeve of being able to play on both sides. Lawrence and Duff played to a certain standard we've grown accustomed to throughout Trapattoni's tenure with Ireland - passionate, hard-working and distinctly average. Sure, they probably quelled a decent amount of potential raids by France down each flank but it was to the detriment of Ireland's chances of scoring goals from open play. This is knock-out and Ireland needed to score at least once at Croke Park

In Ireland's five away games during the group-stages of qualification, they amassed a total of six goals, scoring twice against Georgia in Mainz and Cyprus in Nicosia. In Ireland's four play-off ties of the modern era, they've scored a total of one goal away from home - Ray Houghton's header against Belgium in 1997. They've never won a game away from home in a play-off situation, going down 2-1 against Belgium that night, losing 2-0 to Holland at Anfield in 1995, defeated 1-0 by Iran in Tehran back in 2001 and drawing 0-0 with Turkey back in 1999. What are the chances of heading to St. Denis on Wednesday and scoring even once? You can do the math...

So, how do Ireland need to approach the second leg if, like Trapattoni has said, there'll be no change in personnel? The first thing is decide what role Robbie Keane is going to have. Last Saturday, he was anonymous (yet again) and didn't seem to understand where he was playing or what role he was fulfilling. Doyle occupies the hard-running target man position while Keane just seems to play a little behind him in the hope of winning the occasional flick-on or knock-down. His role is so central, the actual tactics back-fire on the Irish because he's so far up the pitch leading to frantic running back when defending. Keane is the talisman within this side and needs to firstly, find out what his role is and secondly, deliver a calibre of performance on Wednesday that he's been unable to deliver for his country for the vast majority of his career. If Keane believes he's a good enough footballer to play in a deep-lying '10' position, dictating the offense, then let's get him in that position. On Wednesday, Duff and Lawrence will be given instructions to push further forward so Keane will have more of an outlet to link up with the wide-men than he's had all through Trap's time in charge. We need goals on Wednesday and cannot simply rely on set-pieces to get them. Let's take on the French and create chances.

That is the second thing Ireland need to do - try everything they can to test Hugo Lloris, a terrific goalkeeper but, as his side's recent 5-5 draw with Marseille in Ligue 1 proved, not unaccustomed to errors. Andrews and Whelan both had efforts from distance get Lloris busy last Saturday - Ireland need to pepper his goal on Wednesday night and who knows? Maybe, just maybe, an early goal could come Ireland's way. However, if the French take an early lead, game over.

Finally, Trapattoni needs to get the key decisions right. Last Saturday, selection was an issue - perhaps he was right to start both Lawrence and Duff but, one thing's for sure, when Ireland needed a goal, it was McGeady who came on. Irregardless, on Wednesday, Leon Best cannot be brought into the game with the majority of the second half still to be played - this is knock-out and Kevin Doyle needs to play the full 90 minutes of every international. The gulf in class between the starting eleven and the bench became horribly evident when both Best and Stephen Hunt entered the fray - neither finding the rhythm or pattern, Hunt finding it difficult to keep control of the ball and find a team-mate with a pass. These mistakes can't be repeated on Wednesday. If they are, it's not going to end well.

Chelsea v Manchester United: Immediate feedback...

Hmmm...Where do we start? United's second loss to a top-four side in quick succession, their London rivals move five points ahead and, possibly more ominously than both those things, level on points with Arsenal with the Gunners having played two games less.

But, some very positive aspects to United this afternoon - not least that their performance was right up there as one of their most impressive so far this season. It was the visitors that bossed midfield - doing to Chelsea what they had hoped to do to their bitter Northern rivals. The effectiveness of Darren Fletcher, who was at the fulcrum of every stifling of the Chelsea diamond, cannot be overstated. Missing him at Anfield was a momentous loss, not least because of the usual incredibly high standard of his play when against the top domestic sides. Today, the Scot and Carrick finally seemed to gel as a pair, with the latter's ball retention and passing completions of a particularly good standard. Anderson contributed his combativeness to proceedings from a little higher up the pitch, making it difficult for Michael Essien to (a) settle on the ball and (b) charge up the pitch on those rampaging runs we've come to expect from him. Ballack and Deco could never get a rhythm going with the Portuguese' ineffectiveness ensuring his inevitable withdrawal while Lampard was patrolled excellently by John O'Shea.

So, United will be frustrated with the defeat, of that there's no doubt. But, in the long-run, this performance can provide Sir Alex Ferguson's side with the ammunition with which to finally ignite their season. Their central defensive problems, so apparent mid-week against CSKA Moscow, were extinguished today - the conceded goal a result of a poor refereeing decision and some super finishing by the Chelsea captain. Their midfield was solid and determined with Carrick's early-season patchiness non-existent and with Rooney as a leading man, they always have a chance. But, there are still problems.

The end product from Valencia is still poor, as is his inability to cut inside when counter-attacking - his pace is frightening but can be dealt with easily by opposing full-backs who know how to marshal down the touchline. On the other side, there is a huge gap that needs to be filled sooner rather than later. Giggs today was effective and is always a natural leader but his deputies, namely Nani, have not proved their worth. Park is a useful squad member while Tosic is still incredibly unproven at the highest level, despite his clear talent and potential. The Berbatov question still lingers and puzzles though a side that includes the Bulgarian is surely a better proposition than one that excludes him.

So, where does this leave the Premier League title-race? Chelsea look to be well set-up, especially over the next number of league games - Wolves at home, Arsenal away, Man City away and Everton at home. They should be looking to take 10 points from 12 and then prepare for an incredibly simplistic-looking festive season that takes in encounters with Everton, Portsmouth, Birmingham and Fulham. United's next few games probably shouldn't be viewed as difficult though an away trip to West Ham in early December could prove problematic. For Arsenal, today's result could prove a major positive in their quest to feature prominently in the run-in though games with Chelsea and Liverpool before the Christmas fixtures could lead to dropped points and a tail-off in their current emphatic displays.

Plenty of time left though. Plenty of talking points too, no doubt.