Frank Lampard shot Chelsea to its first English league title in 50 years on Saturday as Jose Mourinho's team beat Bolton 2-0.
The England midfielder struck in the 60th and 76th minutes at the Reebok Stadium and the Blues now have an unbeatable 14-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Second-place Arsenal, last year's champion, goes to West Bromwich Albion on Monday but, with only four games to play, can't catch Chelsea, whose only other league title was in 1955.
PHOTO: AFP
Mourinho's team has lost just one league match all season and has 88 points from 35 games, including 27 victories.
Chelsea also won the League Cup by beating Liverpool 3-2 in the final and is on course for a treble in Mourinho's first season. The Blues meet Liverpool at Anfield in the second-leg semifinal of the Champions League on Tuesday, the two teams drew 0-0 in the first leg.
"This group is really special," he said. "That's why I want to stay with them for the maximum time, maybe for longer than the contract I have.
PHOTO: AP
"Nobody speaking with fairness and sense can say we don't deserve this title. But the players deserve this more than anybody and I'm very happy for the fans. Anyone who is less than 50 has never won this championship."
Lampard, whose goals took him ahead of striker Didier Drogba as Chelsea's top scorer this season, said he wanted to make up for a bad miss in Wednesday's Champions League semifinal against Liverpool.
"I felt I owed the fans one after that miss in midweek. This was the best way to repay them," he said.
PHOTO: AFP
"We wanted to win the league first -- now we want to beat Liverpool. This is a moment I will enjoy for the rest of my life. It is a great relief after 50 years for the fans and for everyone."
Team captain John Terry said Mourinho was angry with his players at halftime for a poor performance in the early stages.
"We did not start too well in the first half and we got a bit of a telling off. The response was perfect," the England defender said.
"It is the best feeling ever. It's been a long time coming, the supporters have been waiting a long time and they fully deserve it."
Bolton threatened to put the celebrations on hold for at least another week. But Greek forward Stelios Giannakopoulos fired tamely at Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, who then made saves from Gary Speed and Fernando Hierro.
Chelsea appeared jittery at the back but finally gave its noisy fans something to cheer when Lampard struck with his first goal.
The England midfielder collected a headed pass from Drogba, shrugged off Vincent Candela and spun inside Tal Ben Haim before shooting right-footed past 'keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Cech, who has had 23 shutouts this season, rescued Chelsea with a reflex save to stop teammate Geremi heading a long throw in by Speed into his own net.
The second goal came 14 minutes from the end on a breakaway with Bolton caught upfield. Lampard was put clear of the defense and dribbled around Jaaskelainen before rolling the ball into an empty net.
After referee Steve Dunn blew the final whistle, the celebrations began. Mourinho hugged his players as they sprayed champagne over each other while billionaire club owner Roman Abramovich applauded from the VIP box.
Ivan Sproule and Scott Brown scored two goals in two minutes as Hibernian stunned Celtic 3-1 at Parkhead to boost Rangers' chances of winning the Scottish title.
After Garry O'Connor had given Hibs a sixth-minute lead, Craig Beattie leveled for the Hoops who had been hoping to open an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings.
But Sproule, an Irishman in his first season in the top flight of Scottish soccer, restored Hibernian's lead in the 79th minute and Brown added a third in the 81st.
The surprising loss at home means that Martin O'Neill's team are still five points ahead of Rangers. But the 'Gers can cut that to two by winning at Aberdeen today.
Hibs' victory means that Tony Mowbray's players cemented their position in third place and stayed on course for a spot in next season's UEFA Cup.
Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 win against FC Kaiserslautern to seal a record 18th Bundesliga title.
Dutch forward Roy Makaay recorded a hat trick for Bayern as Schalke was eliminated from the title race with a 3-3 draw against Bayer Leverkusen. The second-placed team fell 11 points behind Bayern with three rounds to play.
"This is my fifth title and one of the best -- I hope we can make it a double with the German Cup," said French defender Bixente Lizarazu.
The Bayern players, after waiting to see if Schalke scored a late goal, then ran onto Kaiserslautern's pitch with giant Bavarian mugs and doused each other in beer.
Bayern coasted to its sixth straight win after Germany midfielder Michael Ballack netted a low shot off Makaay's 19th-minute backheel inside the post.
Makaay added goals in the 35th, 48th and 68th minutes for Bayern, which won its 19th German title.
The Bavarians won in 1932, before the Bundesliga was formed for the 1963-1964 season.
"It's a real relief, a real joy to finally win a title," said Bayern's rookie coach, Felix Magath.
Schalke appeared set to extend the race another week when it took a 3-1 lead against Leverkusen on two free-kick goals by Lincoln and a 41st-minute score by Danish striker Ebbe Sand.
ButSchalke self-destructed. Leverkusen's Dimitar Berbatov got one back in the 56th minute with a deflected shot and Andrei Voronin's chip over the 'keeper eight minutes later leveled the match.
Defender Jean-Christophe Devaux scored with a stunning late free kick as Strasbourg beat Caen 2-1 to win the French League Cup.
With 11 minutes remaining, Mickael Pagis tapped the ball to Devaux and he thumped a ferocious shot into the roof of the net after Caen had come back from a goal down.
The win secured Strasbourg a place in next season's UEFA Cup and gave the Alsace club its second League Cup title in eight years.
"I told my players to give their maximum and I have to say thanks to the fans for all the help you gave us," Strasbourg coach Jacky Dugueperoux said.
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