United held nerve to win as rivals faltered

By Mike Collett - Analysis Reuters - Sunday, May 11 08:08 pm

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United emerged as champions of England for the 17th time on Sunday because they consistently held their nerve under pressure while their main rivals faltered.

Unlike Arsenal, who played some equally attractive football at times, United nearly always seemed able to turn the opportunities they created into goals with Cristiano Ronaldo equalling Alan Shearer's record of 31 league goals in a 38-match Premier League season.

They also defended far better than either Arsenal or Chelsea and won more matches. The fact they also lost two more than either of the London sides proved irrelevant in the end.

Their 2-0 win at Wigan Athletic and Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers on the final day saw them home by two clear points, with a vastly superior goal difference to Chelsea.

Since the turn of the year they have lost only two league games -- the first on an emotion-charged afternoon at Old Trafford in February when Manchester City beat them 2-1 in the game marking the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

The second defeat, also by 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on April 26, brought Chelsea right back into contention, but United held their nerve right to the final kick of the season.

More often than not, outstanding defending, inventive midfield play and some dazzling finishing brought United one win after another and kept the title firmly in their sights.

SLOW START

Chelsea, though, began the season far stronger than United, and briefly topped the table at the end of August with United 16th after taking just two points from their opening three matches.

However, by the time they met Chelsea at Old Trafford on September 23, United had climbed to second while Chelsea, who had parted company with manager Jose Mourinho, had slipped back to sixth.

The match at Old Trafford came just three days after Mourinho's departure. It was Avram Grant's first match in charge and the 2-0 defeat was one of the few low points of Chelsea's season.

However, it was to be Chelsea's last defeat for almost three months.

Even when they did finally lose, to a goal from their former player William Gallas at Arsenal on December16, they re-grouped superbly, establishing a club record run of nine successive wins in all competitions while the squad was depleted by injury and absences because of the African Cup of Nations.

They also bounced back from two big defeats in cup matches -- losing 2-1 to their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final on February 24 before crashing out of the FA Cup at lowly Championship (second division) club Barnsley two weeks later.

They also survived the intense criticism levelled at manager Grant, who defied the ill will from the press and sections of fans to keep his team in the hunt for the title until the final day.

CRUSHING DEFEAT

Despite Chelsea's dogged perseverance, the title race appeared to be between United and Arsenal for most of the season with Chelsea stuck in third place from the beginning of December until the end of March.

However Arsenal flattered to deceive and they began to falter after a crushing 4-0 defeat at United in the FA Cup and a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City in the league at the end of February.

That game proved to be a turning point for Arsenal. Croatian forward Eduardo da Silva suffered a dreadful injury, skipper William Gallas sat on the pitch in a lone protest at the end of the match, and Arsenal never regained their momentum.

Soon defeats at both Chelsea and Manchester United put Arsenal out of contention, but Chelsea did not give up the chase, even after what appeared to be a fatal 1-1 home draw with Wigan Athletic on April 14.

Despite being written off, Chelsea kept the pressure on with away wins at Everton and Newcastle United as well as their home win over United.

Although United held off their challenge in the end and deservedly won the race for the English title, they will both start from scratch on May 21 in Moscow when they clash in the Champions League final with the European Cup at stake.

(Editing by Miles Evans)

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