The Hindu : Sport : Manchester United chases 10th Premier League title

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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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Manchester United chases 10th Premier League title

LONDON: It doesn’t get any closer than this.

With Manchester United and Chelsea tied on points, the Premier League title will be decided on Sunday on the final day of the season.

United only needs to beat Wigan on Sunday to secure its 17th English title — and 10th in the Premier League — because of its large goal difference of 17 over Chelsea.

Great position

“As long as we’re controlling our destiny, I don’t think we need to worry too much,” Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves said. “We’ve got 90 minutes to play and it’s a great position to be in. We’ve had no midweek game so we’ve put in some good training and hopefully we will be ready for the weekend.”

The Blues host Bolton, knowing that if they win — and United loses or draws — Chelsea will become English champion for the fourth time.

“It is 90 minutes of emotion. We know we need to win and hope Man United slip,” Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said. “It will be exciting for everyone, I am sure people will have pocket radios listening to the other game.”

Every Premier League match will start at the same time on Sunday. The Premier League is one of two titles being contested by United and Chelsea — they will meet in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21.

If United winger Ryan Giggs plays on Sunday, it will be his 758th game for United — equalling Bobby Charlton’s record for the most number of appearances for the club. He can also pick up his 10th Premier League winners’ medal.

Chelsea won the Premier League under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and ’06, and was also victorious in 1955. Mourinho left in September and was replaced by Avram Grant, who has already surpassed his predecessor by taking Chelsea to its first European Cup final. Bolton is pretty much safe from relegation in 16th place with 36 points, but Cech is still wary.

“We know it is going to be difficult, if they (Bolton) get beaten 20-0 they can still be relegated, so the other thing is if they lose the game they need to lose with low scores to make sure nothing happens to them — it will still be difficult,” Cech said.

Close race

If Man United and Chelsea finish level on points, it will only be the sixth time that has happened in England since league soccer began in 1888. The race is already the closest since 1999, when United won the title from Arsenal by a point. In the five previous occasions where the top two clubs have finished tied on points, the champion team has been Huddersfield in 1923, Portsmouth in 1950, Arsenal in 1953, Manchester United in 1965 and Arsenal in 1989.

At the other end of the table, Fulham, Reading and Birmingham are battling to avoid relegation. Fulham, which has 33 points for 17th place, will be safe if it wins at Portsmouth because it has better goal difference than 18th-place Reading.

In other matches, it’s: Middlesbrough vs. Manchester City; West Ham vs. Aston Villa; and Everton vs. Newcastle. — AP

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