Manchester United made history this afternoon as they lifted their 19th English top flight title, eclipsing Liverpool’s 18.
Their 19th title came in the 19th season of the Premier League, of which Manchester United have now won 12 of these. Sir Alex Ferguson has been at the helm of all dozen, with Ryan Giggs also collecting a winners medal each time. Both Ferguson and Giggs have 1 medal less than the history of Arsenal Football Club.
Manchester United came into this game needing just 1 point to claim the title and made hard work of it when they went behind midway through the first half when Brett Emerton volleyed home.
Tomasz Kuszczak had a torrid time in the Manchester United goal and it will be interesting to see if he gets another chance next week when they play Blackpool in the final league game of the season before they face Barcelona in the Champions League final.
Martin Olsson came close to doubling Blackburn’s lead just after the hour, but his header came back off the post with Kuszczak well beaten.
Apart from a Nani header that came back off the bar inside 4 minutes, Manchester United rarely tested the opposition goal. That all changed in the 70th minute when Javier Hernandez raced onto a through ball and appeared to be tripped by Paul Robinson in the penalty area.
Referee Phil Dowd took his time to award the decision after discussing with his assistant. TV replays showed Chicharito taking a tumble, but the penalty was given none-the-less. Wayne Rooney duly converted.
The game died out in the remaining 20 minutes as both teams were happy to take a point, queuing the celebrations as the final whistle was blown.
With Chelsea falling apart from mid-November and Arsenal bottling it at the end of the season, Manchester United have been the best of the challengers this season and therefore deserving Premier League winners. They will finish the season with a maximum of 80 points; 5 more than when they claimed title number 11 in 1997; the lowest points tally to win the English top flight since it rebranded in 1992.