LONDON—Manchester United captured their 18th English league title on Saturday when they secured the point they needed in a nervy 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal.
It was a cautious display by United, who endured some anxious moments late on before the final whistle sealed a hat-trick of titles and moved them alongside Liverpool as the teams with most English league crowns.
Arsenal, who will finish a distant fourth, enjoyed plenty of possession and came agonisingly close to silencing Old Trafford when captain Cesc Fabregas struck a shot against the outside of Edwin van der Sar's post with seven minutes remaining.
United hung on, however, moving to 87 points with one game remaining to end the formidable challenge of Liverpool whose title drought stretches back to 1990. Liverpool, who visit relegation fighters West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, have 80.
"That was the longest 90 minutes in history," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who has won 11 league title in 22 years at the club and is already setting his sights on claiming another one next season.
"It will be even more special when we get in front of them (Liverpool). We are a young team and next season we'll go for it again. This is a great side, a great squad, I could have picked two teams today," he told Sky Sports.
Liverpool could finish second with 86 points, the highest total not to win the Premier League , and Ferguson said Rafael Benitez's side had been tough to keep at bay.
"They beat us 4-1 at home, which was a travesty of a result, but they got great impetus from that. That gave them the scent and they took the scent and credit to them because they've battled all the way."
The Scot can now rest players for next weekend's finale at Hull City in preparation for the clash against Barcelona in Rome on May 27 when United can add the Champions League to the League Cup and FIFA's Club World Cup they won in Japan.
That will be a huge comfort to Hull who drew 1-1 at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday to climb out of the bottom three with one match remaining at the expense of Newcastle United who slumped to a 1-0 home defeat by Fulham.
Middlesbrough could only draw 1-1 at home to Aston Villa, a result that virtually doomed them to relegation as they are three points behind Hull with an inferior goal difference.
Everton moved into fifth place with a 3-1 defeat of West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-1 and Stoke City defeated Wigan Athletic 2-0.
ARSENAL SCARE
It was not the dashing, swashbuckling football on Saturday that United's fans have been used to this season and which blew Arsenal away in their recent Champions League semi-final.
Instead there were chewing fingernails as Arsenal's Robin van Persie wasted the best chance of the first half when he headed over unmarked and the Dutchman also tested Edwin van der Sar late on with a fierce shot.
United were restrained throughout, with Carlos Tevez forced to forage largely alone up front. The Argentine was substituted midway through the second period -- a decision that drew boos from the crowd before he received a standing ovation in what could be his last home game for the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo nearly spared United's nerves with a vicious free kick with 12 minutes remaining while the Portuguese set up Park Ji-sung for a goal that was ruled offside.
However, the final minutes produced the rare sight of a United side hanging on with 10 men behind the ball as Arsenal sensed a chance to spoil the party and Fabregas almost extended the title race until the final day of the season.
EPL Game Summaries
Bolton Wanderers 1 Gretar Steinsson 26
Hull City 1 Craig Fagan 46
Everton 3 Louis Saha 38pen,76, Joseph Yobo 48
West Ham United 1 Radoslav Kovac 24
Middlesbrough 1 Tuncay Sanli 14
Aston Villa 1 John Carew 57
Newcastle United 0
Fulham 1 Diomansy Kamara 41
Stoke City 2 Ricardo Fuller 69, James Beattie 76
Wigan Athletic 0
Tottenham Hotspur 2 Jermain Defoe 29, Robbie Keane 86pen
Manchester City 1 Valeri Bojinov 65
Manchester United 0
Arsenal 0
Playing on Sunday (GMT)
West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool (1230)
Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers (1500)
Playing on Monday (GMT)
Portsmouth v Sunderland (1900)
EPL Top Scorers
18 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)17 Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
15 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
14 Robinho (Manchester City)
13 Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
12 Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Darren Bent (Tottenham Hotspur)
11 John Carew (Aston Villa), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)
EPL Standings P W D L F A Pts
1 Manchester United 37 27 6 4 67 24 87
2 Liverpool 36 23 11 2 72 26 80
3 Chelsea 36 23 8 5 63 22 77
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4 Arsenal 37 19 12 6 64 36 69
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5 Everton 37 16 12 9 53 37 60
6 Aston Villa 37 16 11 10 53 48 59
7 Fulham 37 14 11 12 39 32 53
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8 Tottenham Hotspur 37 14 9 14 44 42 51
9 West Ham United 37 13 9 15 40 44 48
10 Manchester City 37 14 5 18 57 50 47
11 Stoke City 37 12 9 16 37 51 45
12 Wigan Athletic 37 11 9 17 33 45 42
13 Bolton Wanderers 37 11 8 18 41 52 41
14 Blackburn Rovers 36 10 10 16 40 58 40
15 Portsmouth 36 9 11 16 35 55 38
16 Sunderland 36 9 9 18 31 48 36
17 Hull City 37 8 11 18 39 63 35
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18 Newcastle United 37 7 13 17 40 58 34
19 Middlesbrough 37 7 11 19 27 55 32
20 West Bromwich Albion 36 8 7 21 36 65 31
1-3: Champions League / EC I
4: Champions League preliminary round
5-7: UEFA Cup
18-20: Relegation
