May 07, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1428

LONDON, May 6: Manchester United won the Premier League for the first time in four years on Sunday as 10-man Chelsea, needing victory to keep the title race alive, could only draw 1-1 at Arsenal.

The result, coming a day after United beat Manchester City 1-0, left Alex Ferguson's side seven points clear of Chelsea with two games remaining.

Arsenal led with a 43rd-minute Gilberto penalty after Chelsea centre back Khalid Boulahrouz brought down Julio Baptista and was sent off.

Michael Essien's glancing header with 20 minutes remaining gave Chelsea hope and led to a furious late assault.

However, they were unable to find the second goal and now instead of Wednesday's Stamford Bridge meeting with United being a title decider it will become merely a handover ceremony.

The draw leaves Arsenal level with third-placed Liverpool on 67 points but behind on goal difference. Both sides are already assured of a place in the qualifying round of the Champions League.

Chelsea, who beat Arsenal 2-1 in a stormy League Cup final in February, had beaten them away in the league only once in 17 years while the Gunners had suffered only one league defeat at the Emirates Stadium this season, to West Ham United.

However, in a game they had to win they were without 31-goal striker Didier Drogba, a late absentee with what Jose Mourinho said was an ankle injury, as well as Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack.

Without their chief target man Chelsea were forced to play a more intricate build-up as diminutive duo Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole tried to create openings for the often isolated Salomon Kalou.

Arsenal also attempted to fashion an opening with their familiar short, sharp passes but the breakthrough came with a simple length-of-the field punt by goalkeeper Jens Lehmann which Boulahrouz misjudged.

As he scrambled back to try to regain ground on Baptista he brought the Brazilian down in the box and a red card brought his first appearance for seven weeks to a premature end.

Gilberto dispatched the penalty - virtually the only shot on target from either side in the half - and Chelsea's hopes of a third successive championship were just about over.

Arsenal initially took control after the break but Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas missed good chances, allowing Chelsea back into the game.

In their first sustained attack of the second half Wright-Phillips clipped in a near-post cross that the tireless Essien, escaping from his enforced defensive role, expertly glanced in.

The goal lifted Chelsea and, after Alexandr Hleb had blown another great opportunity for Arsenal, they piled on the pressure.

Essien shot just wide on the turn, Frank Lampard missed his kick with the goal beckoning and, in the 90th minute, Lehmann saved well from Kalou, who should have scored.

Eight days ago Chelsea were dreaming of an unprecedented quadruple but, after being knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Liverpool on Tuesday they now have only the May 19th FA Cup final against United to try for a double.

At the other end of the table on Saturday, West Ham United moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since early December with a 3-1 home win over Bolton Wanderers with Argentine midfielder Carlos Tevez scoring twice.

Wigan Athletic though, slipped into the bottom three for the first time this season - and three points adrift - after losing 1-0 at home to Middlesbrough, their eighth successive match without a win. Mark Viduka scored the only goal in the 29th minute.

Fulham moved up to 15th after their 1-0 win over Champions League finalists Liverpool at Craven Cottage with American substitute Clint Dempsey scoring the goal after 69 minutes.

Sheffield United failed to ease their relegation worries as a 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa left them 16th, level on 38 points with West Ham.

Everton moved up to fifth and effectively secured a place in next season's UEFA Cup with a 3-0 home win over fellow hopefuls Portsmouth while Reading's hopes of a first European place took a knock with a surprise 2-0 home defeat by relegated Watford.

Blackburn Rovers stayed in contention for a UEFA Cup place with a 2-0 win at Newcastle United where fit-again Michael Owen made his first home appearance since December.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1

Played on Saturday:

Aston Villa 3 Sheffield United 0

Everton 3 Portsmouth 0

Fulham 1 Liverpool 0

Manchester City 0 Manchester United 1

Newcastle United 0 Blackburn Rovers 2

Reading 0 Watford 2

West Ham United 3 Bolton Wanderers 1

Wigan Athletic 0 Middlesbrough 1.

Playing on Monday:

Charlton Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur.—Reuters

Standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Manchester United 36 28 4 4 83 26 88

Chelsea 36 24 9 3 63 23 81

Liverpool 37 20 7 10 55 25 67

Arsenal 37 19 10 8 63 35 67

Everton 37 15 12 10 51 35 57

Bolton Wanderers 37 16 7 14 45 50 55

Reading 37 16 6 15 49 44 54

Portsmouth 37 14 11 12 45 42 53

Tottenham Hotspur 35 15 8 12 52 52 53

Blackburn Rovers 36 15 5 16 48 50 50

Aston Villa 37 11 16 10 41 39 49

Middlesbrough 37 11 10 16 41 48 43

Newcastle United 37 11 9 17 37 46 42

Manchester City 37 11 9 17 28 42 42

Fulham 37 8 15 14 37 57 39

Sheffield United 37 10 8 19 31 53 38

West Ham United 37 11 5 21 34 59 38

Wigan Athletic 37 9 8 20 35 58 35

Charlton Athletic 36 8 9 19 32 56 33

Watford 37 5 12 20 28 58 27