United defends English crown

A sensational final round in the Premier League has seen Manchester United claim its 17th Premiership title, pipping Chelsea through a 2-0 victory over Wigan as Fulham kept its spot in the top flight at the expense of Reading and Birmingham City.

It was hardly a vintage display from United, however, as it was forced to grind out the win, but goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and equal-record games holder Ryan Giggs saw the Red Devils retain the title, while Chelsea could only manage a 1-1 draw with Bolton.

But, despite, United eventually winning the competition with a two-point advantage and a much superior goal difference over Avram Grant's Chelsea side, the actual gap between the two teams was marginal and, at different times throughout the afternoon, it looked as if the Blues may have been in with a real shot at taking the title.

At the JJB Stadium, United may have secured the win, but the result came with a few scares and a little assistance from referee Steve Bennett.

Wigan, was certainly in no mood to let United walk all over it, as Emmerson Boyce and Emile Heskey caused the Devils all sorts of headaches.

As he has done all season, Ronaldo set United in motion, slotting home a 33rd minute penalty after Wayne Rooney was fouled in the area.

But Wigan was unfortunate not to receive a penalty of its own during the first half while Paul Scholes was lucky to be on the pitch as Bennett opted not to hand the midfielder a second caution despite a clearly bookable foul.

After the break, Wigan lifted its intensity as United's defence rode its luck, with Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson's mood hardly improved by the knowledge Andriy Shevchenko had put Chelsea ahead against Bolton just after the hour mark.

Indeed, United was almost staring at second place on the table when Heskey crashed in a powerful header with Edwin van der Saar beaten. But, when the ball narrowly cleared the bar, Wigan's best chance of the afternoon was gone and Giggs fired in an 80th minute goal that effectively sealed the title for the Red Devils.

But, Giggs' goal, in a game where he equalled Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 Manchester United appearances, hardly mattered in the end, as Matthew Taylor drilled in an injury-time score for Bolton, giving it a 1-1 draw with Chelsea that completed a miserable afternoon for the Blues, who lost skipper John Terry to a shoulder injury early in the first half.

Arsenal, meanwhile, secured third position through a 1-0 victory over Sunderland (15th) thanks to Theo Walcott's first-half score while Liverpool rounded out the top four, defeating Tottenham (11th) through goals to Andriy Voronin and Fernando Torres in a meaningless encounter.

Everton, though, secured fifth position and a spot in next season's UEFA Cup by defeating Newcastle (12th) 3-1 at Goodison Park.

With both Everton and sixth-place Aston Villa chasing fifth and England's final UEFA Cup slot, the Toffees started well, taking the lead through Aiyegbeni Yakubu's first-half header.

The hosts were dominating the encounter and at half-time were safe in the knowledge that Villa and its final-day opponent West Ham (10th) were level at 1-1 after Nolberto Solano's early goal for the Hammers was cancelled out by Ashley Young.

However, within two minutes of the restart, Newcastle was back on level terms through a