Worthy Winners!

Manchester United brush Chelsea’s last-gasp challenge to clinch their 10th Premiership title in 16 years

By Babajide Kolade-Otitoju

It was predicted that the 2007/2008 Premiership would be very tough. That was exactly how it turned out. The last Premiership season was certainly one of the toughest. Until the final day, nobody was sure whether the title would go to Manchester United or Chelsea. Both teams went into their respective final matches tied on points, with United having a hefty advantage in goals difference.

Even at the bottom of the Premiership ladder, the battle to avoid relegation remained fierce until the curtains were drawn on the competition. Though Derby had looked very likely to be relegated

• United Winners: Stand-in captain Ryan Giggs lifts the trophy, as his teammates exult.

since last December, the two teams to join Derby in its record-breaking descent only emerged on the final day. And it was really close, as the three threatened teams – Birmingham, Fulham and Reading – won their last matches. But at the end, Fulham escaped, thanks to its superior goals difference against a determined Reading team which beat Derby 4-0 to give themselves hope of survival.

Chelsea can be credited with pushing Manchester United to the very end. But with both teams tied on points, the Chelsea faithful had hoped that United would slip up at Wigan. Chelsea led Bolton by a second half goal scored by Andriy Shevchenko. United at the other end had opened scoring via a penalty converted by Cristiano Ronaldo after Wayne Rooney was tripped in the area. But news that United had recorded a late second goal off the boot of Ryan Giggs struck the Chelsea players like a dash of ice water, and in that dispirited state, Bolton earned an equaliser in the game’s dying moments.

After the match, Bolton Manager, Gary Megson, sent Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager, a text message crediting him with getting the Bolton players to work their socks off in the match. Sir Alex had suggested before the game that the Bolton players were still in celebration of escaping the drop and were not in the mood to give Chelsea a good match. The Bolton players were, therefore, intent on proving Ferguson wrong by fighting all the way. Ferguson confessed last week that those comments were deliberate and “meant to nudge the Bolton players a little bit”.

It must have been a thoroughly pleasing campaign for Ferguson and the United faithful, for back in September, with the team in 16th place, many had written off their chances. And with only a goal in their first three matches, the team were dubbed “boring” by the British press. They responded by winning eight league matches on the spin, conceding just two goals. It would have been nine victories but for a late Arsenal equaliser at the Emirates.

Speaking on the win, which fetched Manchester United £50million, midfielder Michael Carrick, says it was hugely satisfying that it was won on the final day and claimed it was ten minutes after the game that he got the Chelsea result. He argued that the fact that the league was not decided on ‘goal difference’ meant the team were worthy champions. He mentioned determination, discipline and strength in depth as factors which enabled the team to retain its title, pointing to United’s summer acquisitions – Luis Nani, Owen Hargreaves, Carlos Tevez and Oliveira Anderson as having paid off handsomely.

Indeed, as far as statistics go, it could hardly be argued that Manchester United are worthy champions. In the competition, it kept 21 clean sheets. Only Chelsea had the same number of clean sheets. It dropped only 27 points, unmatched by any club, opened scoring in an unmatched 29 games and won 25 of them. The team lost only one game in which it opened scoring – West Ham away in December. Manchester United also boast the stingiest defence in the Premiership, conceding just 22 goals in 38 matches, to Chelsea’s 26 goals. A good defence marshalled by the imperious Rio Ferdinand certainly laid the foundation for United’s back-to-back trophies, but goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar argues that “defensive records are not a major thing unless you win something at the end of it all. When I was at Juventus we had the best defensive record in Serie A in the two years I was in Turin, but we didn’t win the league in those years, so it didn’t mean a thing”.

The team also paraded the best attack in the Premiership with 80 goals scored to Chelsea’s 65 and Arsenal’s 74 respectively. Surprisingly, Chelsea scored less goals than Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and even Tottenham in 11th place!

For Cristiano Ronaldo, it has been an annus mirabilis. The young Portuguese superstar was at the epicentre of Manchester United’s attacking whirlwind backed by Carlos Tevez (14 goals) and Wayne Rooney (12). He is regarded by many as the best player in the world at the moment. He has plundered 41 goals this season, an incredible feat given that he is a winger. He scored 31 goals to lead the Premiership scoring charts.

Ronaldo is brave as a lion and has been a joy to watch. Nobody could possibly argue that he did not deserve his second successive Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year accolades.

The individual awards have continued to roll in for Ronaldo, who has picked up the Barclays Player of the Season and Barclays Golden Boot awards to complete a sensational season. The 23-year-old Portuguese wing wiazard also collected a merit award for reaching 30 league goals this season. The Madeiran magician, was pivotal in United’s Barclays Premier League title success and it was no surprise that he earned the Barclays Player of the Season accolade for the second year in succession.

It’s the first time a player has scored more than 30 league goals in a season since Alan Shearer’s 31-goal haul for Blackburn Rovers twelve years ago.The merit award for reaching 30 goals will also benefit one lucky charity as Ronaldo will receive £1,000 for every goal scored to be donated to a charity of his choice.

However, for all the personal awards showered on the his sights will be firmly set on the Champions League trophy in Moscow next Wednesday. The day after winning the Premiership, he won three awards at his club’s Player of the Year dinner. Premier League managers also voted his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of the year.

But it remains to be seen whether these achievements can be replicated next season, or whether United can record a double by winning the Champions League in Moscow this week. Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, who is going into his fourth year without a trophy, has warned Ferguson to prepare for a tough 2008/2009 season as, in his view, it would be Arsenal’s year.

Even Ronaldo is not sure the team can pip Chelsea to the Champions League trophy in Moscow on Wednesday. Asked what he thinks will happen in Moscow, Ronaldo said: ‘‘We all want to win the Champions League. But you never know what will happen in the final – you have a 50-50 chance.”