In the end, it only took 6 minutes for Chelsea, via a sweet Nicholas Anelka strike, to insure that any final day drama in the English Premier League title race would be averted. The London-based club had entered their game against Wigan knowing that a win at home would render anything Manchester United did against Stoke City irrelevant and give them their first Premier League title in four years.
Although Wigan stuck around after Anelka had opened the scoring, the contest was effectively ended on the half hour mark. Chelsea's Frank Lampard glided past Gary Caldwell in the Wigan penalty box and the turned-around defender, in desperation, stuck out his arms making light contact with the English midfielder, who hit the turf. Without hesitating, referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot before harshly showing Caldwell a straight red card.
After Lampard slotted home the ensuing penalty kick, there was no way back in the game against Chelsea's stingy defense for 10-man Wigan. The floodgates opened and Chelsea tacked on six more goals to win the game 8-0 and wrap up their title denying Manchester United, who beat Stoke 4-0, a record fourth consecutive title.
For much of this season, no team really separated itself from the pack in the race to the Premier League title. Indeed, Chelsea's final points tally of 86 is the lowest total for a Premier League winner since Manchester United's 83 in the 2002/03 season. Moreover the last team to lose six games and walk away with the trophy, as Chelsea did, was again United, nine seasons ago, during the 2000/01 campaign.
All of the top English teams showed frailties during the course of this season. Liverpool dropped out of the running early, losing two of their first three EPL games, and were unable to get back into it. Arsenal admirably played the role of third wheel for the year, never falling too far behind the front two but never getting within striking distance either.
This brings us to Chelsea and United who, for the last four months on the season, week after week traded pole position in the EPL. A monster showdown between the two clubs on April 3 at Old Trafford ended with a Chelsea victory, just as it had in their first head-to-head at Stamford Bridge in November, and put the Blues back on top with a two point lead. After United were held to a 0-0 by Blackburn the following weekend, it seemed the title race might completely fizzle out. But Tottenham produced a gutsy performance at White Hart Lane to beat Chelsea 2-1 and reignite it.
The loss to Spurs turned out to be the last sign of weakness Chelsea would show during their run-in. They produced three strong performances against Stoke, Liverpool and Wigan to win out and cling on to their one point lead over United.
All in all, United's inability during the off-season to find the offensive firepower to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, and to a lesser extent Carlos Tevez, turned out to be a decisive factor in this year's title race. United summer signings disappointed for the most part. Winger Antonio Valencia had a decent season but could not possibly match Ronaldo's production: he's just not that type of player. Gabriel Obertan barely got an field and was a non-factor. Michael Owen scored a important winner in the Manchester derby but was a part-time player before tearing his hamstring in February.
As for United's other offensive players, Nani was brilliant in flashes, but United's management probably expected more of him this year. Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes began to show their age as the season wore on. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of all was Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian striker who cost United $45 million in 2008. Berbatov managed only 12 goals in 43 matches, and was guilty of a number of really bad misses, particularly late in the season. Only Wayne Rooney's fantastic year, 34 goals in 44 games (by far the most prolific season of his career), kept Man United in it until the season's final day. Both Rooney and United chief executive David Gill have already hinted that United will make moves in the transfer market over the summer to address their offensive issues.
Chelsea, on the other hand, showed offensive firepower in bucket loads during the campaign: on four occasions they scored seven goals or more, and led the league with 103 goals on the season. The potent strike partnership of Anelka and Ivorian striker Didier Drogba coupled with a great season by the much improved Florent Malouda and the consistent production of Lampard made the Blues almost impossible to shut out. Had they shown more consistency, and avoided a catastrophic December (9 points dropped in six games), they might have wrapped up the title a few weeks earlier. They now have the opportunity to wrap up a league-FA Cup double against relegated Portsmouth next Sunday.
