The Hindu : Sport : Man U is champion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Man U is champion

CELEBRATION TIME: Manchester United fans in a jubilant mood after it was assured of the Premiership title. - AP.

London: Chelsea surrendered the Premiership title to Manchester United on Sunday after Jose Mourinho's 10 men were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

Mourinho's side needed to win at the Emirates Stadium to maintain its slender hopes of overhauling United's eight-point lead.

So when Khalid Boulahrouz was sent off for conceding a spot-kick that Gilberto stroked home just before half time, the champagne was on ice at Old Trafford.

Chelsea produced a spirited fightback that was capped by Michael Essien's equaliser, but the London club's two-year reign as champion was over.

United manager Alex Ferguson had claimed he would be on the golf course instead of watching the match, but it is safe to assume the news of arguably his greatest triumph reached him soon enough.

The Gunners showed no signs of giving Chelsea an easy ride. William Gallas was close to opening the scoring early on when he was unable to turn in Cesc Fabregas's free-kick.

With Drogba sidelined with an ankle injury, Chelsea looked a less intimidating proposition than usual.

Chelsea has never been easy on the eye under Mourinho but the lack of zest in its play in the first half made it look almost robotic as it grinded through the motions.

Joe Cole dragged a shot wide from the edge of the area after half an hour as Chelsea tried to find its stride.

Wasteful Arsenal

But it was Arsenal who possessed the greater menace and Emmanuel Adebayor should have done better than shoot straight at Petr Cech after Denilson's pass had given him a clear sight of goal.

The game finally came to life in the 43rd minute after a piece of slapstick defending from Boulahrouz. He misjudged the bounce from Adebayor's flick and then allowed Julio Baptista to muscle him off the ball before sending him sprawling with a rash challenge.

A penalty was awarded and Boulahrouz was sent off before Gilberto confidently sent Cech the wrong way from the spot to edge United closer to the title.

Chelsea summoned up the energy for one last desperate assault in the closing stages and was rewarded in the 70th minute. Shaun Wright-Phillips whipped in a superb cross from the right and Essien dived in to glance a header into the far corner.

The results: English Premier League: Arsenal 1 (Gilberto-pen) drew with Chelsea 1 (Essien).

Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid 3 (Van Nistelrooy 2, Robinho) bt Sevilla 2 (Maresca, Chevanton); Levante 2 (Navas-og, Mustapha) bt Gimnastic 0; Real Betis 0 lost to Getafe 2 (Guiza, Casquero); Mallorca 3 (Varela, Jonas, Jankovic) bt Osasuna 1 (Garcia); Real Zaragoza 0 drew with Racing Santander 0; Recreativo 0 drew with Athletic Bilbao 0; Villarreal 1 (Franco) bt Celta Vigo 0; Espanyol 2 (Moha, Pandiani) bt Atletico Madrid 1 (Petrov);

Italian Serie A: Messina 0 lost to Inter Milan 1 (Crespo); AC Milan 0 drew with Fiorentina 0; Palermo 1 (Tedesco) lost to Roma 2 (Totti, Cassetti); Atalanta 3 (Ariatti, Vieri, Carrozzieri) bt Siena 1 (Vergassola-pen); Cagliari 2 (Marchini, Capone) bt Udinese 1 (Muntari); Chievo 1 (Pellissier) bt Parma 0; Empoli 2 (Pozzi, Almiron) bt Catania 1 (Spinesi); Lazio 1 (Jimenez) bt Livorno 0; Sampdoria 0 drew with Reggina 0; Torino 1 (Rosina) bt Ascoli 0. — Agencies

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