LONDON, 8 May 2005 — Premier League champions Chelsea needed a last-minute strike by Claude Makelele to celebrate their first championship in 50 years with a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic yesterday.
The relegation battle will go to the final round of matches after Crystal Palace and Southampton drew 2-2, Norwich City beat Birmingham City 1-0 and West Bromwich Albion earned a surprise 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
Chelsea struggled before being awarded a 90th-minute penalty and although Makelele’s spot-kick was parried, the former France midfielder knocked in the rebound to score his first goal for the club in their last home game of the season.
Victory and the trophy presentation at Stamford Bridge rounded off a bitter-sweet week for Chelsea, who secured the title last Saturday with a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers but were knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Liverpool.
“It’s fantastic for me, but it’s their moment,” Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports News after his players paraded the trophy on a sunlit afternoon. “I’m proud of everybody and we have to try to repeat it because it’s a fantastic feeling,” he said.
The day ended with third-placed Manchester United being held to a draw by West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford.
West Brom striker Robert Earnshaw converted a 62nd-minute penalty to cancel out a first-half free kick by Ryan Giggs and virtually end United’s hopes of finishing second.
“It was a terrible give-away,” said angry United manager Alex Ferguson.
United have 74 points, three behind Arsenal, who can all but guarantee runners-up spot and direct entry into the Champions League group stage by beating Liverpool at Highbury today.
Earlier, there was a flurry of red cards and plenty of thrills in the drop zone, where any one of the bottom four clubs could still survive on a dramatic final afternoon next Sunday.
Norwich beat 10-man Birmingham thanks to a Dean Ashton penalty, but their fans could barely celebrate at the final whistle as their team were still in the bottom three.
A few minutes later, Norwich were hoisted clear of the drop zone as a 90th-minute strike by Danny Higginbotham earned Southampton a 2-2 draw in a relegation dogfight at Crystal Palace after a delayed start.
Everton stayed fourth and took a major step towards next season’s Champions League third qualifying round with a 2-0 win over 10-man Newcastle United. Sixth-placed Bolton Wanderers sealed a UEFA Cup place with a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth, while Middlesbrough beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 to become favorites for England’s final European spot.
Rangers Return to the Top of Scottish League
In Glasgow, Rangers moved back to the top of the Scottish Premier League by a point with a 2-1 home win over Hearts yesterday.
Thomas Buffel put the Glasgow side ahead after eight minutes before Marvin Andrews doubled the lead three minutes from the break in front of 49,342 fans at Ibrox.
Andrews turned the ball into his own net eight minutes from time to set up a nervous finish but Rangers held on for the three points.
Rangers have 87 points from 36 games with Celtic, who play Aberdeen on Sunday, on 86 from 35.
Schalke Win at Last to Boost European Hopes
In Frankfurt, Schalke 04 held on to second place in the Bundesliga as they brought a desperate run of form to an end with a 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld yesterday.
Schalke’s first league win in five games came via an early Lincoln penalty and a late strike from Ailton, keeping them in the second Champions League qualification place behind champions Bayern Munich.
VfB Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin also secured vital wins to stay in the hunt for Europe’s top club competition with two games to play.
Bayern Munich, who secured their 19th league championship last week, celebrated with a 4-2 win at Mainz, helped by a second successive hat trick from Dutch striker Roy Makaay.
With 32 games played, Bayern are top with 71 points, followed by Schalke on 60.
Stuttgart clinched a 1-0 home win over Hanover 96 with a late Kevin Kuranyi goal to stay third on 58 points, while Hertha came from behind to win 3-1 at home to VfL Wolfsburg and move up to fourth on 56.
The top two in Germany qualify for the Champions League, with the third-placed team going into the final qualifying round.
Schalke’s run of three defeats and a draw in their previous four games had handed the league title to Bayern and left their Champions League hopes in the balance. Ralf Rangnick’s side took an early lead yesterday when Brazilian forward Lincoln won a penalty on a run into the area and stepped up to convert it in the ninth minute.
Mallorca Continue Last-Gasp Revival
In Madrid, struggling Real Mallorca continued their dogged bid to stay in the Spanish first division with a 1-1 draw at Osasuna yesterday.
Former Spanish international Francisco Farinos put Mallorca ahead after 33 minutes with the host’s first serious attack of the game.
However, Savo Milosevic nearly equalized three minutes when his header hit the post.
The Serbian striker then grabbed a point seven minutes from time, with a header, to ensure that Osasuna, despite not winning a game for the first three months of 2005, stay in the top flight of Spanish soccer.
Athletic Bilbao kept alive their faint chances of European football next season with a 2-0 win over Real Zaragoza.
