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Manchester United wins U.K. soccer title

By KRYSTYNA RUDZKI -- AP Sports Writer

LONDON (AP) Manchester United won its first English Premier League title since 2003 without kicking a ball Sunday because Chelsea was held to a 1-1 tie at Arsenal.

United, which beat Manchester City 1-0 Saturday, has 88 points. Chelsea is second with 81 points with two games left. The two play each other at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

United has won the English title nine times since the Premier League was formed in 1992 - all under manager Alex Ferguson, who took over the club in 1986. United also has won seven other English titles.

"It's a fantastic day for the club and the supporters," said Ferguson, who said he watched the final 15 minutes of Sunday's game. "Over the last two years, Chelsea has dominated the Premier League, and yes, we had a big job to do to catch up with them. The key was having a good start to the season and trying to stay with them."

Chelsea had been trying to win its third straight Premier League title. The last club to do that was Manchester United from 1999-01.

"I have to say that maybe I'm prouder today than when I was champion," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. "My players are heroes. All season, against absolutely everything, they did brilliantly."

Chelsea needed to win to keep the title race alive, but Gilberto Silva scored from a penalty kick in the 43rd minute after Julio Baptista was brought down by Khalid Boulahrouz. The Chelsea defender was then sent off.

Michael Essien tied the score in the 70th for Chelsea, beating Arsenal defender William Gallas with a header that got past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

United hosts West Ham on Sunday in its final game, while Chelsea hosts Everton.

Sunderland won the League Championship in rookie coach Roy Keane's first season. Sunderland defeated Luton 5-0 on the final day to finish with 90 points. Birmingham ended second with 86 points. Both clubs already had been promoted to the Premier League.

Daryl Murphy scored twice for Sunderland, with Anthony Stokes, Ross Wallace and David Connolly adding the others.

Sunderland was 23rd out of 24 teams in the League Championship when Keane joined the club in August, just two months after retiring as a player. Keane played midfield for Manchester United for 12 years and will face former manager Alex Ferguson in the Premier League next season.

The four teams in the playoffs for one more spot in the Premier League are Derby, West Bromwich Albion, Wolves and Southampton.

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MILAN, Italy (AP) - AS Roma clinched second place in the Italian league by beating Palermo 2-1.

Roma captain Francesco Totti scored his 22nd goal of the season with a swerving free kick in the 17th minute, and teammate Marco Cassetti scored in the 36th. Giovanni Tedesco had a goal for Palermo in the 86th.

Roma has 72 points with three games to go, 11 more than third-place Lazio, which beat Livorno 1-0.

Inter Milan, which won its second straight league title two weeks ago, has 90 points after defeating Messina 1-0, which was relegated. Hernan Crespo scored for Inter in the 72nd, two minutes after goalkeeper Francesco Toldo saved Arturo Di Napoli's penalty kick.

Last-place Ascoli also was relegated after losing to Torino 1-0.

AC Milan drew 0-0 with Fiorentina, four days after beating Manchester United to reach the Champions League final, where it will face Liverpool on May 23 in Athens, Greece.

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MADRID, Spain (AP) - Zaragoza was held to a 0-0 tie by Racing Santander in the Spanish league, hurting its chances of playing in next season's Champions League.

The tie ended a five-game winning streak at La Romareda Stadium for Zaragoza, which trails fourth-place Valencia by four points with five games to go.

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BERLIN (AP) -Werder Bremen stayed alive in the Bundesliga, with Markus Rosenberg scoring three goals in a 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin.

Bremen trails leader Schalke by two points and second-place VfB Stuttgart by one with two games to go. Schalke and Stuttgart won Saturday.

Rosenberg first scored on a deflected 19th-minute shot, then added a chip in the 50th and a third off Diego's cross in the 82nd. Diego scored Bremen's other goal in the 60th.

Gilberto scored for Berlin, which failed to win for the sixth straight time at home.

Jonas Kamper's long shot in the 83rd minute lifted Arminia Bielefeld to a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - Aberdeen earned a 1-1 tie with Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on an injury-time goal from Barry Nicholson.

Aberdeen is in third place with 62 points and Hearts is fourth with 58.