Premier League - Manchester United are champions

Eurosport - Sun, 17 May 10:18:00 2009

Manchester United were crowned Premier League champions after a goalless draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford.

Manchester United champions, Gary Neville, FOOTBALL - 0

United only needed a point to secure a third consecutive Premier League title and that is what they achieved with a cautious performance.

It was the 11th title of Sir Alex Ferguson's reign and means United match Liverpool's record haul of 18 in the top-flight.

United came into the match on the back on a seven-match winning streak in the league and had an opening inside a minute when Cristiano Ronaldo burst away down the right flank but opted to cross rather than shoot.

That summed up an understated opening 45 minutes from the hosts whose best chance was spurned by Wayne Rooney. He was picked out by Michael Carrick but diverted his header past the near post.

Ryan Giggs also lifted a free-kick in a good position over the crossbar and was equally wayward when the ball sat up for him nicely after a counter attack initiated by Rooney.

Arsenal had won on three of their previous 12 Premier League visits to Old Trafford, including in 2002 when Sylvain Wiltord's goal clinched a 1-0 win and the title, and they had the best chance of the opening period.

A super diagonal pass from Cesc Fabregas found Robin van Persie unmarked eight yards out but he put his header over the top.

Samir Nasri, who scored twice in the Premier League match at the Emirates between these sides earlier in the season, also should have done better when he was picked out by Andrei Arshavin 18 yards out. His shot was going wide and van Persie was unable to divert it on target.

Arsenal headed to Old Trafford on the back of a recent 4-1 aggregate drubbing against United in the Champions League but continued to play the better football after the break and Arshavin teed up Kieran Gibbs whose shot from 20 yards nestled in the side netting.

United failed to muster a single shot on target in the entire match but their best chance came when Darren Fletcher's cross from the right found Carlos Tevez who eluded Kolo Toure but Lukasz Fabianski raced off his line to make a sliding challenge with his feet which was enough to put the Argentine off.

Had Tevez gone down, referee Mike Dean would have had a big decision to make.

Tevez left the fray shortly after, waving goodbye to the Stretford End possibly for the last time, and his replacement Park Ji-Sung put the ball in the net shortly after coming on only for Ronaldo to be penalised by an errant offside flag.

Ronaldo almost gave the home fans the goal they were craving but a superbly struck free-kick from the left just missed the top corner with Fabianski looking on helplessly.

But then United had to endure a nervy ending as the Gunners looked to spoil the party.

The best move of the match saw Alex Song burst through and tee up Fabregas who aimed for the near post from the angle and saw his shot brush Van der Sar's fingers and hit the outside of the post.

Van Persie then warmed Van der Sar's palms with a shot on goal from the right before in injury-time the Dutchman's whipped effort flicked off Carrick and went for a corner.

However United were not to be denied and for the first time in 10 years, when they beat Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, were confirmed as champions on their home turf.

United took the acclaim of the Stretford End at the final whistle and now face Hull next Sunday before they bid to retain the Champions League against Barcelona.

Lee Walker / Eurosport

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  1. Rafa "I have lost the plot" Benitez makes me­ laugh. He keeps going on about how United have spent­ more money. On Sky Sports News Jeff Shreeves tells us­ that £5m is the difference in money spent over the last­ five years between the two clubs. The funny part is­ Liverpoo are the ones that have spent more. Wrong again­ Benitez - you are an embarrassment. That little club­ you manage is having to live on past glories. How many­ players have come through the Liverpoo academy that­ play every week?? Look at the United conveyer belt.­ Beckham, The Nevilles, Butt, Scholes, Giggs I could go­ on. Sir Alex is a legend and Benetiz is jealous that he­ will never take his little has beens to these­ heights.
    Nice one lads you have done us proud.
    GLORY­ GLORY MAN UNITED - WE LIVE THE DREAMS OF OTHER TEAMS

    From steveoliver74, on Sun 17 May 7:32AM

  2. I'm a pure bred manutd fan but married to a mancity­ angel. I've a few sweet lips for arsenal­ fans.

    Assenal is a very important team in the premier­ league. Assenal are second to livepoo in the top four­ rankings as per this reason's points attained from­ the top four clashes.

    1. Liverpoop 14pts
    2. Assenal ­ 9pts
    3. Manutd 5pts
    4. Chelsea 4pts

    Assenal fall­ second in the total of premier league crowns.

    Manutd­ 11
    Assenal 5
    Chelsea 2
    Blackburn 1
    Others,...e.g.­ Liverpoo Zero.

    Assenal has played second most games­ this season and using second largest pool of players or­ a variety of stars of kids. Progressed to champions­ league semi final, a step further than livepoos

    An­ african assenal fan hanged himself after the semi final­ loss.

    MANCHESTER UNITED ARE CHAMPIONS, again.

    From Majoser, on Sun 17 May 7:26AM

  3. haha this is funny! all of you who hate on united crack­ me up! u whine about our players that have bad­ sportmanship but y r u watching united? shouldnt u be­ watching your boy scouts TRY to play football. jealousy­ is all that u have. liverpoo fans talk about how they­ won the title 18 times but all they can really talk­ about is what their team did ages ago. they have­ nothing to cheer about now, so sad... so all they do is­ hate the best

    GLORY GLORY MAN UTD!!!

    From babolat_pro_dkh, on Sun 17 May 7:14AM

  4. As ever, we are the CHAMPIONS!
    Full steam to Roma

    From armanmanutd, on Sun 17 May 7:00AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    How predictable,united have been buying the title for­­ years and ruining the epl,it is turning into the­ crappy­ spl,thank god for roman buying chelsea and now­ the­ arabs buying city,hopefully they will give the­ salford­ red sox some serious competition in the next­ few years

    From dorisdazzler, on Sun 17 May 6:57AM

  6. no. 1000 comment champione ole ole ole

    From Dark.Soul, on Sun 17 May 6:38AM

  7. I'm so impressed by the comments coming on today.­ This is pure bred of genius manutd fans. Critical­ thinking and no vulgarity. I'm happy by the­ facts.
    Keep the spirit up and don get nasty. We cant­ argue with loosingfools.

    From Majoser, on Sun 17 May 6:38AM

  8. Bore me

    From tom h, on Sun 17 May 6:25AM

  9. Glory Glory Manchester United!

    From sidh97, on Sun 17 May 6:15AM

  10. European Power Rankings (previous rankings in­ brackets):

    1. (1) Barcelona - 21.87

    2. (3) Manchester­ United - 21.86

    3. (2) Liverpool - 21.61

    4. (4)­ Chelsea - 19.44

    Go Devils!

    From revilo, on Sun 17 May 6:00AM

  11. 2nd 3rd straight win in a row! Is there any team can­ get close to that achievement? Only Chelsea got even­ closer when they retained the Premier League under Jose­ Murinho. There are only four different teams had won­ the Premier League (not 1st Div); Blackburn, Arsenal,­ Chelsea and of course Manchester United (11 times­ winner). Where is Liverpool? Na na na na, you'll­ never walk alone and you'll never win Premiership­ title. Man U the conquerer of England, Europe and the­ World! That's the fact. Glory, glory Man United!

    From ADAM, S, on Sun 17 May 5:58AM

  12. My younger brother was born in May 1990 n supportd­ Liverpool for its 18th Title.
    My youngest brother was­ born in May 1993 n supported Man Utd for its 08th­ Title.
    But in May 2009 they are both celebrating their­ 18th anniversary...How is it possible!
    Sandy

    From pteeroomal, on Sun 17 May 5:49AM

  13. A thank you is in order to all the non Man United­ supporters who have congratulated Man United for their­ 18th Premier League Title. Let's hope that next­ year's league would be just as exciting. And may­ the best team win it.

    From cokrowinoto, on Sun 17 May 5:48AM

  14. Rafael Da Silva has more Premier League titles than­ the­ whole Liverpool squad.
    Thats a FACT.
    HAHAHAHA

    From Wan Firdaus?, on Sun 17 May 5:22AM

  15. Rafael Da Silva has more Premier League titles than­ the­ whole Liverpool squad.
    Thats a FACT.
    HAHAHAHA

    From Wan Firdaus?, on Sun 17 May 5:21AM

  16. All scoucers are morons , Liverpoo blew it , they have­ had more than enough mony and talent and they blew it ,­ period. its no one elses fault , not howard webbs­ fault.

    BLOODY F.UCKIN IDIOTS.

    ELEVEN DRAWS
    ELEVEN­ DRAWS
    ELEVEN DRAWS

    From ninja_king_returns, on Sun 17 May 5:15AM

  17. If Liverpool win it next year I will they brough it as­ well.

    Its not Man U's fault that Liverpool drew­ ELEVEN GAMES , ELEVEN GAMES THAT THEY BOTTLED AND­ SHOULD HAVE GOT A FEW MORE WINS ,. ITS COMPLEATLY­ LIVERPOOLS OWN FAULT THEY BLEW THE PREMIERSHIP­ BATTLE

    IDIOT SCOUSERS ,.

    From ninja_king_returns, on Sun 17 May 5:12AM

  18. Rafael Da Silva has more Premier League titles than the­ whole Liverpool squad.
    Thats a FACT.
    HAHAHAHA

    From Wan Firdaus?, on Sun 17 May 5:02AM

  19. 1003 one word d i c k

    From Michael C, on Sun 17 May 5:01AM

  20. Manchester United Barclays Premier League­­­ Undisputed­­­­ Champion & Kings Of England­­­ 2008/2009.."In­­­­ United We Stand **** The­­­ Rest"..Au Revoir Man­­­­­­­ United!!..Forza!!..Champione Champione Ole Ole­­­­­­­ Ole..LOL..Glorious Man Utd!!
    P.S­­­­­­­ L'ARSE,SCUM(KOP+SYMBOL=@#$%..LOL)&­­­ CHELS***E­­­­ FANS STINKS 24/7
    ­ ..DESPERATE­­­ LOSER..
    anw here's a real killer spam,Man Utd­ fans­­ will loves this,ready check this out..
    Quote of­ the­­ day.."Mr­ Rafa­ "beneath crack"­ aka Fat­­ Spanish­ Butthole­ still thinks he's in­ with a­­­­ chance..LOL..apparently speaking to Sky­­ Sports­­ somewhere"!!..he's fooling the­ fools!!..jesus!!!..hahaha..

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Sun 17 May 4:50AM
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