Chelsea desperately hard work of their title quest and deserve

CHELSEA 8
- Anelka 6
- Lampard (pen) 32
- Kalou 54
- Anelka 56
- Drogba 63
- Drogba (pen) 68
- Drogba 80
- A Cole 90

WIGAN ATHLETIC 0

Carlo Ancelotti, in his first season in English football, saw his players clinch their fourth top-flight crown in emphatic style yesterday with a rampant win over 10-man Wigan Athletic.

At times, Chelsea made desperately hard work of their title quest, but ultimately it was their ability to win the big games which they did with confidence, that enabled them to hold off the challenge of their rivals and win the league championship.

Nicolas Anelka put the home side on their way early on, scoring from close range after a free-kick from Didier Drogba was poorly cleared by Wigan's defenders.

The Frenchman was left unmarked in the penalty area when Drogba's rebounded effort was sent back in by Michael Ballack. Anelka's shot on six minutes, firmly struck, flew up off the turf and past Wigan goalkeeper Michael Pollitt. It was just the start that Chelsea needed.



To their credit, Wigan continued to play with energy and though Chelsea's Petr Cech was rarely troubled Ancelotti would have wanted his players to ease the pressure with a second goal.

It came, on 31 minutes, when Wigan defender Gary Caldwell was dismissed for bundling over Frank Lampard in the penalty area. The Chelsea midfielder put his spot-kick past Pollitt. Cue raucous celebrations from the home supporters. As is his way, Ancelotti watched on, holding back his emotions.



The third goal, on 54 minutes, from Salomon Kalou was a fine team effort. After a period of possession, the Ivorian played the ball into the feet of Lampard before racing into the penalty area. Kalou collected the pass, slithered through Wigan's defence before firing the ball past Pollitt.

Anelka added a fourth, with Drogba capping a fine season by scoring a second half hat-trick to complete the mauling before Ashley Cole added a late eighth.

Squads:

Chelsea: Petr Cech, John Terry, Alex, Ashley Cole, Branislav Ivanovic (Juliano Belletti 59), Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack (Nemanja Matic 70), Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou (Joe Cole 58), Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka.

Wigan Athletic: Michael Pollitt, Gary Caldwell, Steve Gohouri, Emmerson Boyce, Mario Melchiot, James McCarthy, Mohamed Diame (Paul Scharner 72), Ben Watson (Hendry Thomas 62), Maynor Figueroa, Charles N'Zogbia, Hugo Rodallega (Victor Moses 81).

Goal from Fletcher, Giggs and Park beat of Stoke City 4-0 not enough chase Chelsea

MANCHESTER UNITED 4
- Fletcher 31
- Giggs 38
- Higginbotham (og) 54
- Park 84

STOKE CITY 0

**Manchester United’s 4 goal defeat of Stoke City on the final day was not enough as Chelsea, as expected, destroyed Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge to take the Premier League title. Their mammoth 8-0 win over the Latics certainly impressed but United fans could at least look back at the half time state of affairs and lament the overly generous officiating that the West London side have been the beneficiaries of this term.

Sir Alex Ferguson went for a 4-4-2 in attempt to spell out the attacking message to the visitors even though there was an impending feeling of doom among the home faithful. But by the time Old Trafford had managed to shake off any collective pre-match anxiety their hopes suffered a blow when news of a Chelsea goal – scored by Nicolas Anelka with Malouda in an offside position – filtered through.

Dimitar Berbatov had retained a starting place despite his hatful of missed efforts last week and in the first quarter of the game was guilty of missing another hat-trick’s worth of chances. First, he was played through by Rooney and saw his effort blocked by Wilkinson – then, headed a couple of Nani crosses over, the second clipping the top of the crossbar. On the half hour United did get their breakthrough when Ryan Giggs’ corner was met by Vidic and the Serb’s header pinballed off too Stoke defenders, and landed at the feet of Darren Fletcher less than a yard out. Fletcher duly converted.

The Potters’ resistance was far greater than their recent capitulation at Stamford Bridge, but United were still playing well – the next 7 minutes summed up the season, when Chelsea were the beneficiaries of some more refereeing help, Frank Lampard converting a penalty that saw Wigan reduced to ten men.

Gary Neville had a cheeky effort comfortably saved before Ryan Giggs’ doubled the relinquishing champions lead. Dimitar Berbatov did well with a strong forward surge after receiving Rooney’s pass, and drilled a cross across goal. Giggs was there arriving from the right to side foot home from 12 yards and seal the result with 8 minutes of the first half still to play. Rooney could have put his name on the scoresheet after another good piece of play by Berbatov but Huth snuffed it out.

With the end result a formality and all eyes on Stamford Bridge, it was no surprise that with the ascendancy handed to them by the officials, Chelsea ran riot and scored 6 more over a despondent Wigan side that had already conceded 9 in one game in their travels. Rather more surprising was the bizarre nature of the Stoke supporters at Old Trafford. They have attained quite a good reputation for their vocal support at the Brittania but seemed intent on ruining all of that deserved goodwill.

United’s second half performance defied the fact that they knew they would be replaced as Champions as they relentlessly attacked the visitors – Nani had a chance from a Rooney pass and Scholes chipped wide, though it was already 3-0 by then – Fletcher’s clever reverse found Rooney and the forward’s trick was brilliant and unselfish, making space to fire across goal and ex-Red Devil Danny Higginbotham was only able to divert it into his own goal via the crossbar.

Edwin van der Sar was called upon to make two spectacular saves; first from Rory Delap and second from Danny Pugh – that little spell served no purpose than to prove Stokes proper commitment to the game where it had been sorely lacking 2 weeks ago. Ji-Sung Park, on for Rooney after he had pulled up with a groin injury, made it 4 and a confirmed bittersweet last day hammering when he headed in Ryan Giggs’ corner.

The recriminations will now begin regarding United’s own shortcomings in the title race. Lacking guile in midfield? Perhaps. Lacking a convincing alternative for Rooney either in shape or personnel? Probably. Found short after a spell where 8 first team defenders were injured in the winter? Most definitely.

Regardless of the circumstances, pushing for a record breaking fourth consecutive title was always going to be a tough ask because it has never been done before. Chelsea, remember, have only just got their fourth ever. That task was made impossible because of the defining intervention of a Liverpool supporting referee, a Liverpool player who didn’t want Manchester United to win, and another poor refereeing decision with the score at 0-0 at Stamford Bridge in the final game. The worst thing is, this didn’t need to happen. Chelsea may well have won at Old Trafford, may well have won at Anfield, and would no doubt have won today.

Squads:

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra Nani, Fletcher, Scholes (Gibson, '62), Giggs, Berbatov (Macheda '62), Rooney (Park, '77).

Stoke City: Begovic, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Higginbotham (Collins' 69), Delap, Whitehead (Diao '67), Whelan, Etherington, Sidibe (Pugh '69), Fuller.

Arsenal produced a devastating first half performance as they cruised past Fulham with a comprehensive 4-0 victory

ARSENAL 4
* Arshavin 21
* Van Persie 26
* Baird (og) 37
* Vela 84

FULHAM 0

**Arsenal produced a devastating first half performance as they cruised past Fulham with a comprehensive 4-0 victory. The three points sealed third place in the Premier League for the Gunners and confirmed their place in next seasons Champions League group stage.

However in the 21st minute Arsenal finally broke the deadlock through Arshavin. The Russain took advantage of an error by Schwarzer who controlled the ball on the right side of his penalty area, Arshavin took the ball off the Australian goalkeeper, dribbled round his challenge before calmly slotting the ball past the two defenders on the line for his 12th goal of the season.

Five minutes later Arsenal doubled their lead through Van Persie. Bacary Sagna released Theo Walcott down the right hand side, he raced into the penalty area before playing a low pass into Van Persie, his left foot shot was saved by the feet of Schwarzer but the Dutch international made no mistake with the rebound and fired into the back of the net.

Arsenal did extend their lead in the 37th minute through an unfortunate own goal by Chris Baird. Nasri released Walcott on the right wing, he delivered a low cross which was deflected off John Pantsil onto Baird at the back post and the ball rolled past Schwarzer.

With five minutes of the half to go a rampant Arsenal created another chance, this time for the impressive Walcott. Van Persie played a pass into Eboue who flicked the ball into the path of Walcott but his shot towards the far corner was well saved by Schwarzer.

With seven minutes Arsenal got their fourth goal through the Mexican Vela. Eboue played a neat pass into Nasri in the center of midfield, the Frenchman then played a through ball into Vela who took the ball into the penalty area and chipped the ball into the back of the net over the advancing Schwarzer.

Source : Goal

Squads:

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski, Gael Clichy, Mikael Silvestre (Johan Djourou 62), Sol Campbell, Bacary Sagna; Samir Nasri, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue; Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin (Carlos Vela 77), Theo Walcott (Henri Lansbury 77)

Fulham: Mark Schwarzer, Nicky Shorey, Chris Smalling, John Pantsil (Stephen Kelly 59), Chris Baird; Clint Dempsey (Fredrik Stoor 67), Jonathan Greening, Kagisho Evidence Dikgacoi, Bjorn Riise (David Elm 45), Stefano Okaka Chuka, Erik Nevland

Impressive a victory beat Tottenham 4-2, Burnley bade farewell to Premier League football

Burnley 4
Wade Elliott (42)
Martin Paterson (71)
Steve Thompson (88)
Jack Cork (54)

Tottenham Hotspur 2
Luka Modric (32)
Gareth Bale (3)

**Relegated Burnley bade farewell to Premier League football in style by coming from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham 4-2 at Turf Moor.

Spurs started the game with a mathematical chance of pipping arch-rivals Arsenal to third place in the league table.

That was not to be, but a party atmosphere still prevailed among the travelling fans as defeat failed to take the gloss off their achievement of qualifying for the play-offs of the Champions League.

Spurs scored from their first attack, player-of-the-season Bale firing the ball into the net from ten yards out in only the second minute of play.

Aaron Lennon will have done his chances of making the England World Cup squad no harm by providing the cross which led to the goal.

Goal-scorer Bale showed off his passing skills in the 32nd minute, setting up Luka Modric who beat his marker with a Cristiano Ronaldo-style step-over before shooting past Burnley goalkeeper Brian Jensen.

Relegated Burnley seemed determined that their Premier League swansong would end on a high note; midfielder Wade Elliot pulling a goal back in the 44th minute after good work from Steven Fletcher.

Lennon hit the post early in the second half before Burnley equalised in the 54th minute courtesy of a Jack Cork header from a Steven Thompson cross.

Tottenham defender Ledley King prevented the Clarets from scoring later when he made a last-ditch tackle as Thompson shaped to shoot. It is King's third game in nine days; proof that his injury-riddled knees could carry him through the World Cup should England call on his undoubted talent.

Burnley's Martin Paterson won't be starring in South Africa this summer, but he did help his club go 3-2 up in the 72nd minute by getting a vital touch to a Fletcher cross.

Thompson got in on the act in the 88th minute to secure the home side's victory, turning in a shot from Elliott.

As Spurs' thoughts turn to next season and the Champions League, Burnley must face life in the Championship. But their fans should always remember that they bowed out in style.

Squads :

Burnley : Brian Jensen, Steven Caldwell, Tyrone Mears, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Jack Cork, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Steven Fletcher, S (Steven Thompson, 86), Martin Paterson (Chris Eagles, 90), David Nugent (Robbie Blake, 79)

Tottenham Hotspur :Ben Alnwick, Gareth Bale, Younes Kaboul, Michael Dawson, Ledley King, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Tom Huddlestone (Wilson Palacios, 64), Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric, Peter Crouch (Eidur Gudjohnsen, 85), Jermain Defoe (Roman Pavlyuchenko, 63)

Header from Peter Crouch booked their place in next season's Champions League with a 1-0 win at Manchester City

MANCHESTER CITY 0

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1
- Crouch 82

**The North London club, so often overshadowed by rivals Arsenal, booked their place in next season's Champions League with a 1-0 win at Manchester City to lock up fourth place in the Premier League. An 82nd minute header from Peter Crouch wrapped up Spurs' Champions League place and left City to ponder their future.

Spurs were close to a spot in Europe's premier competition four years ago, but a dubious case of food poisoning on the last weekend of the season forced several players to the sideline and kept them out of the tournament when they lost on the last day of the year and Arsenal leap-frogged them. Those demons were finally exorcised as Spurs continued their strong run of form against Manchester City - their 11th win in 12 matches with City.

While City is the richest club in the world, entry into the Champions League was seen as a requirement for them to compete for the top talent in the world, nevermind hanging on to the likes of Carlos Tevez. Now the blue half of Manchester will have to settle on the Europa League while Tottenham enter into the qualifying round of the Champions League. They can jump into an automatic qualification spot if Arsenal lose Saturday to Fulham and Spurs beat Burnley in the final weekend of the Premier League season.

City started brightly, with Tevez forcing a string of saves from Heurelho Gomes. Eventually Spurs would take control of the match, and a 1-0 scoreline didn't do their performance justice. Crouch hit the post in the 18th minute, and two minutes later, Ledley King had a goal disallowed for an iffy foul in the box. City had another string of chances late in the half, but Gomes was again on spot to keep Spurs level.

Spurs eventually found more firm footing in the 2nd half and would've had a lead had City's new goalkeeper, Marton Fulop, not made stunning saves on Crouch and Jermain Defoe. Spurs also had Gareth Bale and Luka Modric miss chances wide of the target as the game crept toward full time. It looked as if Spurs would have to wait for the final day of the season to get to the Champions League.

Finally it was Crouch who capitalized. Fulop could only push a cross from Younes Kaboul into the big striker's path, and Crouch headed in. Spurs controlled the last eight minutes of the match, and now they find themselves in the Champions League for the first time.

Squads:

Manchester City: Fulop, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Adam Johnson (Wright-Phillips), De Jong, Barry (Vieira '57), Bellamy (Santa Cruz), Tevez, Adebayor.

Tottenham Hotspur: Gomes, Kaboul, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Bentley '71), Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Crouch, Defoe (Pavlyuchenko '81).

Steve Gohouri salvaged a point for Wigan and relegated Hull City to the Championship.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 2
- Moses 30,
- Gohouri 90

HULL CITY 2
- Atkinson 42,
- Cullen 64

**Wigan Athletic is in 15th place in England’s Premier League with one game remaining. Its position is neither laudable nor shameful. But during the final stretch of the season, the club’s results will prove crucial both in the title race and the relegation fight.

On Monday, Wigan condemned Hull City to relegation after Steve Gohouri scored on an acrobatic overhead kick to earn a 2-2 tie in the teams’ penultimate game of the season.

“It is one of those performances which leaves you with mixed feelings because we knew that we had to take control of the game and break Hull down,” Wigan Manager Roberto Martinez said after the game. “But then what we don’t lack is that character and desire to carry on doing the right things until the end. I thought the second goal was the reward the players deserved.”

On Sunday, Wigan will travel to London to play first-place Chelsea in a game that could decide the championship. Chelsea, with a 1-point lead over Manchester United, must win to secure its first title since 2006. A loss or a tie combined with a Manchester United victory over Stoke City would secure United, the defending champion, its fourth straight championship. (If both teams have the same results, Chelsea will win the title.)

Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfielder, said he was confident the Blues would see the season to a triumphant conclusion.

“We have got a head of steam up,” Lampard said. “There is still another game to go but we are in a good position. If you are going to win titles you are going to have these moments. Whether it is a crunch moment like on Sunday, when we played Liverpool with United playing Sunderland after us, or whether it be a game at home which you should win comfortably.”

“You have to do the job right,” he added.

Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping Wigan can do a job on Chelsea. His team won at Sunderland on Sunday, thanks to another opportune goal from the Portuguese wing Nani, and now must win at home against Stoke City and get some help.

“They’re a good team, they’ll have a go and you never know, it’s a crazy game,” he said of Wigan, adding: “Manchester City did us a great turn when they beat Chelsea twice. Wigan are neighbors too.”

Squads:

Wigan Athletic: Stojković; Melchiot, Gohouri, Caldwell, Figueroa; Gómez (Scotland 79), Diame (Scharner 82), Watson, McCarthy (Sinclair 65), Moses; Rodallega

Hull City: Duke, Mendy, Gardner, Mouyokolo, Dawson; Atkinson, Cairney, Boateng, Kilbane; Vennegoor (Folan 70), the Cullen

David Dunn and Chris Samba grab campaign with an impressive 2-1 victory over Arsenal

BLACKBURN ROVERS 2
- Dunn 43,
- Samba 68

ARSENAL 1
- van Persie 13

**Blackburn came from behind to leave Arsenal still short of the point they need to make sure of third place. Two mistakes from Lukasz Fabianski that led directly to both home goals only served as a reminder that Arsenal still need to invest in a reliable goalkeeper.

Robin van Persie’s first goal in six months put Arsenal in front after 13 minutes, the Dutch striker finishing off an old-fashioned near‑post corner routine after Bacary Sagna flicked on Samir Nasri’s cross. Conceding from any sort of set piece never puts Sam Allardyce in the happiest frame of mind, though the lead was no more than Arsenal deserved. They could have been ahead as early as the second minute had not Carlos Vela missed the target when a mistake by Gaël Givet allowed Theo Walcott to roll the ball invitingly across the face of goal.

Allardyce had been relaxed enough about this game to take in the Wigan v Hull match earlier in the afternoon, reportedly checking the relegated Tigers for possible bargains. Blackburn had nothing in particular to play for here, though Allardyce’s summer spending
plans are probably based on a mid-table finish rather than a position just above the relegation candidates. With every league place dropped counting as money lost, the Blackburn hierarchy will have been relieved to see David Dunn grab an equaliser before the interval, while the travelling Arsenal support would not have been surprised to see another goalkeeping misjudgment cost their side.

Fabianski had done reasonably well in keeping out a couple of Morten Gamst Pedersen shots from free‑kicks, but when he came for a 43rd‑minute corner and missed he left Dunn a simple tap-in once Keith Andrews had returned the ball back across the six yard line.

Arsenal’s reserve goalkeeper went some way to redeeming himself with good saves from Pedersen and then Junior Hoilett at the start of the second half as Blackburn began to exert some pressure, before Martin Olsson saw a goal disallowed for a borderline offside.

Fabianski was almost as relieved as Mikaël Silvestre when the defender’s sliced clearance nearly produced an own goal, only for his luck to run out from the subsequent corner when a woeful attempt to punch away Pedersen’s cross simply allowed Chris Samba a free header right under the crossbar.

Squads:

Blackburn Rovers: Paul Robinson, Ryan Nelsen, Christopher Samba, Gael Givet, Michel Salgado, Vincenzo Grella (David Hoillet 58), Keith Andrews, David Dunn (Phil Jones 85), Martin Olsson, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Jason Roberts.

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski, Mikael Silvestre, Sol Campbell, Armand Traore, Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby, Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue (Eduardo 78), Carlos Vela (Andrei Arshavin 67), Robin Van Persie, Theo Walcott.