Manchester United beat Wigan, 2-0, and Bolton held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on the final day of the English Premier League season, enabling the Red Devils to win the title for the second straight season.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored on a penalty kick in the first half and the substitute Ryan Giggs hammered home an insurance goal at Wigan’s JJB Stadium as United won its 10th Premier League title in 16 years. Ronaldo’s goal was his 32nd goal of the Premier League season.
In London, Chelsea kept alive its faint hopes of winning the league title (it needed to defeat Bolton and see United lose or tie at Wigan to win outright; or else both United and Chelsea could win, but Chelsea would need to score a ridiculous number of goals to overcome United’s superior goal differential) when the substitute Andriy Shevchenko scored early in the second half. But Bolton’s Kevin Davies scored the tying goal in second half added time to settle matters at the top of the Premier League table.
At the bottom of the standings, both Fulham and Reading won their last games, but Reading was relegated to the Championship because of a poorer goal differential. Fulham has five Americans on its roster (Kasey Keller, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey) while Reading has two Americans on the books (Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey). Joining Reading in the drop are Birmingham City and Derby County, which has two Yanks on the roster (Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis.).
Chelsea will have an opportunity to grab a bit of solace when it will face Manchester United in the European Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.
Can United complete the double? Was a second-place finish enough to ensure that Manager Avram Grant keeps his job at Chelsea? Or does Grant need to win the Champions League title?
From 1 to 25 of 46 Comments
It’s unfair that Avram Grant doesn’t get respect after finishing a close second and taking the team to Moscow.
He should be proud of himself.
— NathNicely done United and congrats. Be ready for Moscow because Chelsea will. Great to see Fulham stay up for being as bad as they have been.
It does not matter what Avram does because he will leave in the summer. He is not a man that glamors the spotlight and he has had enough. He will deliver the Champions League trophy.
As always let me know what you think…
http://nikegoal.blogspot.com/
— Vedrancongratulations to manchester united
but…
this goal blog is an absolute joke, minutes after manchester united wins the premiership title there is a post about it
but it’s been a week since Bayern Munich and Real Madrid clinched titles in their respective leagues; and still no mention on this blog
the bloggers saw fit to make a post about both owners in the cl final being jewish, but apparently super clubs like bayern and real madrid just aren’t as important as “news” like that when it comes to nytimes goal bloggers
what on earth are you guys going to post about this summer when England doesn’t play in the European championship?
— jamiecongratulation to man utd….good luck for MOSCOW
— ejayGood job United. well done to Sir Alex and the guys and i know you guys will produce the double com may 22. dont disappoint me now.
— marloni don’t think Avram is the right manager for chelsea & likely thier moscow travel will be bitter aswell
— israel lemmaBig up for manU, well done my boys! All you need now is to work hard for 21st of this blessed month so that we can have two cups. SUPER SUPER…..
— Diana M.I always believe that the Best should carry the day. Man-U worked real hard and they deserve to be champs! It is not about superstition or good omen, it is about hard work and it always pays. Congrats Man-U!
— Kambafwileman u were always going to win it go on my boyz
— leeall things being equal.everything has its own time.therefore, its time for MAN U.SO hats off for the red devils…
see u in moscow!!
— eddieI have so much respect for Avram G. He has solved the most difficult equation that even the best coaches of recent in the likes of Jose M. and Franck Rijkaard have been unable to. Whether he loses the champions league final or not, he has taken chelsea a step further in the most pretigeous european competition. Good luck Grant, granted that you leave, I believe you will be granted another opportunity to coach a pretigeous club in the class of Chelsea.
— Ndi AlexisChelsea will definately try their best. Be prepared MU.
— DannyCudos to Sir Ferguson and his boys, to Chealsea, better luck next time. The red devils seem to be having an outstanding year, especially with the rival clubs.
— Opoku A.But coming off a 1-1 draw with mid-table team has got to be a little disheatening got Chelsea. Especially when the tying goal was scored in stoppage time. Man U. is gonna have all of the “Big Mo’” going into Moscow.
— DanielYour team choked Vedran. Grant should stay and win it all next year. It is interesting to note that in this mornings NYT sports section, no mention of this was made. What’s up with that? The NYT loves the English league!
— ForzaEarlier this season, I had hoped that, at the very least, the Premier League’s fourth place spot would be taken by Aston Villa, Portsmouth, or Everton. Instead, the table finishes with the usual suspects: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Maybe next year.
I think Grant deserves high praise making his club a contender for the League’s title after the turmoil that enevloped Chelsea last fall. I look forward to an entertaining Champions League final.
It was good indeed to see Fulham avoid relegation. I found their match against Portsmouth more exciting to watch yesterday. A shame for Reading and Birmingham City - but that’s the nature of an unfixed table that permits relegation and promotion.
— David A. Gaspar, TorontoMan United played beautiful soccer this season especially considering the number of goals they scored.Fans pay their hard earned money to see goals and United provided that.I can’t see Chelsea denying them the trophy in Moscow.They are just too good this season.Congrats Man U!!
— Chris Togaracongratulation for english premier league and best of luck in your game at moscow.
— karma thinley wangchugCongrats to Utd. They won fair and square and with some flair. Chelsea played well too, though they’re quite boring at times and Grant seemed not to learn that Ballack was a lot more effective than Lampard.
The best play during the season…Arsenal. They lost less than anyone in the league, save Chelsea, and had it not been for a stream of injuries, some truly horrific, the young Gunners would’ve taken the title. And they play with such flair!
But when it counted, Utd and Chelsea showed mental toughness that comes only with experience. Next year, a more experienced, less injury prone, and likely deeper Arsenal side must be considered the co-favorites with Utd.
Let’s trust in Arsene and hope he spends some money to bolster the side and give Utd and Chelsea another run for their money, but a more favorable outcome for the good guys.
This year, the good guys finished third.
— WeaselTo all the Mancs fans that jump on the bandwagon - you’ll be falling off it very quickly soon - Let’s GO CHELS…
— AlexI want to see if the football world has the courage of not naming Cristiano Ronaldo as FIFA World Player of the year. Last year coming behind Messi was a disgrace for the voters. CR and Portugal will show who is the best at the Euro this summer.
— JoseYeah yeah, Man Utd. Way to buy yourself another title. Watching Fulham fight to stay up was more exciting. Now they might even get to play in Europe thanks to the Fair Play League. That is great news, hopefully MAF will spend some money this summer to build up the club.
— Yanqui BrutoSo the prophets of Doom got it all wrong.
— Joash OderaBravo Sir Alex and Cheers to the Red Devils! You have done us proud. It was down to the wire and you were true to your character. You must proceed to stamp Man U as the true kings of Europe - so we await the double. Best of luck. Till now, I find no reason to recommend Avram Grant. At Stamford Bridge, things seem to happen by the grace of God!
As a Juv fan i hail manu for their good job done and for the bleus tyr next time it is not by someone you can not be depending on. because it means you believe to be leader by other sweat. up red devils. we will meet next season in chompion league
— MarkI am a Manchester United and Fulham fan so yesterday was pretty freaking awesome (Stand Up if you hate Chelsea)
— 20LEGEND