Man Utd hold nerve to win 10th Premiership title

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Monday , May 12, 2008 at 0751 hrs 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 Sept. 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 Dec.16, 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.