2011 March 1, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC[1]:
But Chelsea, who left Didier Drogba on the bench as coach Carlo Ancelotti favoured Fernando Torres, staged a stirring fightback to move up to fourth and keep United in their sights on a night when nothing other than victory would have kept the Blues in contention.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: seein, contention.