London: Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic contradicted manager David Moyes by saying the reigning champions could no longer win the Premier League title this season following their defeat by Chelsea.
<img title="Dejected Man United players Phil Jones (left), Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic (right) look on after conceding the second goal against Chelsea on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2014/jan/21Nemanja-Vidic.jpg" alt="Dejected Man United players Phil Jones (left), Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic (right) look on after conceding the second goal against Chelsea on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images" /> Dejected Man United players Phil Jones (left), Michael Carrick and Nemanja Vidic (right) look on after conceding the second goal against Chelsea on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Sunday&rsquo;s 3-1 loss at Stamford Bridge left United a huge 14 points behind leaders Arsenal with just 16 games of the season remaining.
Chelsea striker Samuel Eto&rsquo;o scored a hat-trick to exposed United&rsquo;s defensive frailties and the defeat was compounded for the visitors when Vidic was sent off late on for a rash challenge on Eden Hazard.
Asked if United were now too far adrift of Arsenal to retain their title, centre-back Vidic told Sky Sports: &ldquo;Yes, I think so now we are too far behind. We have to focus now to get in the top three, top four. We have to be positive.&rdquo;
Of more immediate concern for United is that they are six points adrift of the top four, with the once unthinkable prospect of failing to qualify for the Champions League now a possibility.
&lsquo;Fight is on&rsquo; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to be easy but we have to now fight for different things,&rdquo; said Vidic. &ldquo;We have to focus on the (League) Cup and the Champions League. It&rsquo;s never easy but we have to stay positive, we have to stick together, we have to work hard to change the things around.
&ldquo;Hopefully we can play better football and with a bit of luck I think we can achieve that.&rdquo; By contrast, a defiant Moyes &mdash; in his first season as United manager since succeeding the retired Alex Ferguson &mdash; insisted after Sunday&rsquo;s match that he would not &ldquo;throw the towel in&rdquo;.
&ldquo;What we won&rsquo;t do is throw the towel in until we can&rsquo;t get there,&rdquo; said Moyes, whose side replied through Javier Hernandez.
&ldquo;The job&rsquo;s to try and finish first and we&rsquo;ll keep trying to do that. There&rsquo;s no clever answers except, &lsquo;Try and win the next game.&rsquo; &ldquo;I think before today (Sunday), we came into it and we&rsquo;d lost one game in the league in six &mdash; not a bad run.
&ldquo;And I didn&rsquo;t think there was a big difference in the teams today, I didn&rsquo;t at all. The difference was two set-pieces and nothing else.&rdquo;

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Manchester United Captain Nemanja Vidic contradicts their manager David Moyes by saying that the reigning champions can no longer fight to retain their English Premier League title

EPL: Man United's Nemanja Vidic give up title hope

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EPL: Man United's Nemanja Vidic give up title hope

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