CHAMPIONS - AGAIN!

 

(Image taken from Manutd.com)

Well we'd already hammered Wigan at Old Trafford. Since then, United legend Steve Bruce has taken over from Chris Hutchings as manager and secured the Latics another season in the top flight. United still had the Premiership title to secure though and so this trip to the JJB Stadium has a lot of attemtion on it. We went 4-4-2, Brown right back, Rio and Vidic centre back, Ronaldo right mid, Carrick and Scholes centre mid, Park left mid, Tevez and Rooney up front.

Credit where credit's due, Wigan certainly have us a headache early on. A win would garuntee us the title but our biggest problem to start wiith looked to be making sure we didn't concede. We did start to turn the game round though and managed to force a 33rd penalty which Ronaldo slotted. We could have still finished the half with ten men but at half time it was advantage United.

In the second half it was largely all United as we looked to secure the win and if it hadn't been for Chris Kirkland getting in the way, the game would have been over before the hour mark. As it was, Wigan did managed to get their act together but then on came Giggsy. And in the 80th minute Rooney set him up to run through and fire into the net. Wigan had a late chance that would have made things interesting but for the Reds in Wigan it was party time!

Elsewhere Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Bolton at Stamford Bridge proved to be an irrelevance! The bottom line is, United have won the Premiership title for the second year in a row by two points - the first time we've succsessfully claimed then defended the Premiership title since the period of 1999-2001, when I was doing my A Levels. For Tevez and Nani it's their first Premiership winners medal, for Giggsy it's his 10th, the first one having been grabbed back in '93!

So, the 2007/8 Premiership season is over. United win the title with Chelsea also having secured a spot in the Champions League group stages next season. Arsenal and Liverpool have secured spots in the Champions League third preliminary round and Everton have got a UEFA Cup spot while Reading, Birmingham and Derby have all been relegated for this year.

North of the border, Aberdeen faced Motherwell at Fir Park in the SPL. The first half proved to be uneventful though Motherwell had a slight edge. That edge proved to be deadly for the Dons when Darren Lee Smith opened the scoring for the home side. Aluko grabbed an equaliser but it was Well's Chris Porter that hit the winner and that's not an ideal result.

Elsewhere, Elsewhere, Dundee United faced Rangers at Ibrox. Nacho Novo scored twice for Gers to show the Tangerines whose house it was. Mark de Vries pulled one back for the visitors but Jean Claude Darchville wound up having the last word in a solid win for the Old Firm side. That leaves the Dons still in 6th in the SPL but only two points behind Dundee United and a UEFA Cup spot.

Back south of the border and down a level, the Championship playoffs are underway. In the semi final first legs that took place over the weekend, Watford were beaten at Hull 2-0 at Vicarage Road while Cystal Palace were beaten 2-1 by Bristol City at Selhurst Park. In both ties the first leg losers look to have their work cut out in the second leg, though Hull vs Bristol City with a Premiership spot at stake sounds very warped.

Time to tidy up the season now, first up, the UEFA Cup final.

 

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