Arsenal drew 2-2 with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to clinch the premier league title, with first-half goals by Frenchmen Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires securing the championship with four games to spare.
It was Arsenal's 13th league title, third in the premier league under manager Arsene Wenger since 1998 and second in three seasons.
"I'm very proud to achieve it," Wenger said. "In the last three years we've won two titles and two FA Cups so I think we have improved every year."
PHOTO: AP
Arsenal are still on course to go through the season unbeaten, a feat not achieved for more than a century.
"[That is] something fantastic and we are so close to it," the Frenchman added.
The match at White Hart Lane ended in controversy, however, when Spurs completed a comeback from two goals down with an injury-time penalty equalizer by Robbie Keane after Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann had pushed the Spurs striker at a corner.
Arsenal, who needed only a draw to clinch the title after second-placed Chelsea lost 2-1 at Newcastle United earlier in the day, raced ahead inside three minutes when they broke downfield from a Spurs corner.
Midfielder Gilberto cleared and Thierry Henry ran 50m unchallenged before feeding Dennis Bergkamp on the left. The Dutchman crossed low into the middle where Vieira drifted through unmarked to turn the ball into the net.
Pires put them two up shortly after the half hour in a typical Arsenal passing move that he started by feeding Bergkamp and finished when he met his captain's pass with a low shot inside the far post.
Spurs captain Jamie Redknapp pulled one back for the home side just past the hour when he drilled the ball low inside the left post from the edge of the box.
Henry, the premier league's top scorer with 29 goals, had several chances to increase Arsenal's tally and Pires struck a fierce shot against the underside of the bar 11 minutes from time.
Goalkeeper Lehmann was at fault, however, at the corner when he allowed Keane's presence to bother him and he pushed the Ireland striker to the ground. Keane's shove back meant both men were booked and the penalty was awarded against the goalkeeper.
Newcastle 2, Chelsea 1
Former England captain Alan Shearer hit a stunning 30m drive into the top far corner early in the second half to seal Newcastle's victory over Chelsea.
Midfielder Joe Cole gave Chelsea a fifth-minute lead and Newcastle equalized one minute from the interval through striker Shola Ameobi.
Chelsea defender John Terry struck the post in injury time but the London team were left just one point ahead of outgoing champions Manchester United, who lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool on Saturday, with three games to go.
Newcastle climbed above Aston Villa to fifth, level on points with Liverpool in the tight race for the fourth Champions league berth. Both are 18 points behind Manchester United.
Earlier, Portsmouth won 2-1 at Leeds United to ease their relegation worries.
Wolverhampton Wanderers came from behind to draw 2-2 at Birmingham City but failure to notch their first away win of the season left Wolves rooted to the bottom of the table.
Marta Kostyuk’s maiden WTA 1000 title in Madrid came on Saturday thanks to her power, poise and a pair of unexpected lucky shorts. The world No. 23 beat eighth-ranked Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 7-5 in under 90 minutes to secure the most prestigious trophy of her career, her third professional singles title and second in less than a month after Rouen. Yet as the 23-year-old Ukrainian posed for photographs at the Caja Magica, it was not just the silverware that caught the eye. Held alongside her team and her two dogs, Kostyuk showed off a piece of black men’s underwear, prompting
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Throwing more than US$5 billion at a divisive new tour and walking away after five seasons does not look like good business, but LIV Golf was not all bad news for Saudi Arabia. Oil-funded LIV, which poached top stars and sent golf’s establishment into a tailspin, helped push the conservative kingdom into global view — one of its key aims, experts said. The exit, confirmed on Thursday after weeks of speculation, does not signal a flight of Saudi money from sport, even after the Middle East war that sparked Iranian attacks around the Gulf, they said. “Saudi Arabia is not
Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the English Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham United’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham Hotspur a lifeline in the battle for survival. The Gunners have stumbled toward the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays. However, the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged
RSS