Chelsea crushed 10-man Wigan 8-0 at Stamford Bridge to secure the Premier League title, ending Man Utd's three-year grip on the trophy.
Chelsea crowned champions as Wigan crushed at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea crushed 10-man Wigan 8-0 at Stamford Bridge to secure the Premier League title, ending Manchester United's three-year grip on the trophy.
The Blues romped to a completely one-sided success against the Latics, who fell behind after just six minutes and were a man down and a further goal behind at the break, before utterly capitulating following the interval.
Sir Alex Ferguson's Red Devils kept up their end of the bargain as they saw off Stoke at Old Trafford, but ended the day as they had started, one point adrift of the new champions.
Arsenal thrashed Fulham at Emirates Stadium to ensure they held off Tottenham's late charge for third and book their place in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, with Spurs beaten by relegated Burnley at Turf Moor.
Chelsea's title celebrations began just six minutes into their clash with
Wigan as Nicolas Anelka fired home, with Frank Lampard picking himself up to slot home the second from the penalty spot as Gary Caldwell saw red for attempting to swap shirts in the 31st minute.
Golden Boot-hopeful Didier Drogba was less than impressed at not being handed penalty duties for the crucial kick with a display of petulance more suited to the playground than the Premier League.
Generous
After the break, Salomon Kalou exchanged passes with Lampard to make it 3-0 and Anelka volleyed home, before Drogba headed home to improve his mood and bring up a century of Premier League goals for Carlo Ancelotti's men.
And the Ivory Coast international was then generously handed the ball after Mario Melchiot clipped Ashley Cole's heels, firing home via the post, before tapping in from close range to notch his 29th league goal of the season and claim the Golden Boot.
And there was still time for England left-back Cole to make it 8-0 to complete a record top-flight triumph for the new champions on another humiliating afternoon in London for Roberto Martinez.
Manchester United boss Ferguson sat stony-faced on the sidelines as news of the Blues' early strike filtered through to Old Trafford, although his players pressed until the end and claimed a 4-0 victory over
Stoke as more protests at the Glazer family's ownership of the club took place.
Darren Fletcher lashed home at the back post after a fortunate ricochet in the box and 11-time title-winner Ryan Giggs added a second before the break, with Danny Higginbotham's own goal and Park Ji-Sung's late effort completing the scoring.
Arsenal made short work of Europa League finalists
Fulham at Emirates Stadium with Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie both on target before the interval in an eventual 4-0 success as the Cottagers clearly had one eye on Wednesday's meeting with Atletico Madrid.
Spirit
Burnley showed great spirit in their final Premier League outing as Steven Thompson, Martin Paterson, Jack Cork and Wade Elliott cancelled out efforts from Gareth Bale and Luka Modric to stun Champions League-bound
Tottenham 4-2 at Turf Moor.
Compatriots under pressure, Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Mancini, watched their respective
West Ham and
Manchester City sides play out a 1-1 draw at Upton Park with Shaun Wright-Phillips' towering header cancelling out Luis Boa Morte's opener.
Bolton ended their season on a high as efforts in either half from Kevin Davies and Ivan Klasnic saw off
Birmingham 2-1, with Blues responding through James McFadden after Christian Benitez's weak penalty had been saved.
Wolves rounded off a successful return to the top flight by hitting back to overcome
Sunderland 2-1 at Molineux as Kevin Doyle swiftly cancelled out Kenwyne Jones' opener and Adlene Guedioura bagged the winner, before Michael Turner and Jack Colback both saw red.
Richard Dunne's late own goal handed
Blackburn all three points at
Aston Villa and ensured that Sam Allardyce's side ended the campaign in the top half of the table.
Everton left it late before Diniyar Bilyaletdinov struck against relegated FA Cup finalists
Portsmouth, while
Liverpool's clash with Championship-bound
Hull City at the KC Stadium ended goalless.
